Packing up for a big move is an interesting process with a twelve-year-old. I have written a few times on this blog about our family’s collecting habits. We are antiquers and pickers. We love hunting for old objects and thinking about the stories behind them. That love for objects has been passed on to my son. He has the best room in our home and has amassed quite the collection of “stuff:” stuffed presidential dolls, Legos, model cars, Beatles memorabilia, books, and Pez dispensers (to name a few). These collections are becoming a source of packing frustration.

What to take and what to leave?

The completed Legos stay. The ones still in boxes are coming. Those books he has already read. They are coming, along with books he hasn’t read. Stuffed presidential dolls. Coming. Trophies from orchestra. Coming. Hot Wheels. Staying. Pre-school picture books. Staying. Every object, every collection gets a second and third look before a decision on it is made.

All through this packing we are having conversations about what is important and what isn’t. Obviously moving in middle school is no fun. I am trying to be understanding and I know some of that “stuff” will help him as he transitioning to a new school and new state.

But, we are also having conversations about how it is just “stuff,” how the most important thing is that we are together, as a family, in our adventure.

We are having conversations about how we can replace some of that “stuff,” how we need to leave room for new antiquing adventures and collections in our new home.

As I talk to my son about priorities, I am also reiterating some of this mantra to myself.

Moving is difficult. Maybe some of our “stuff” will help to ameliorate the uneasiness that will come in the coming months.