When I first moved out (of the house I'd owned for several years, leaving almost everything behind), I carefully picked out and purchased 4 fluffy towels in 2 shades I liked. I felt that it was a good start to my new home. I also got 2 washcloths and 2 hand towels to match. Then my boyfriend (now husband) moved in with me and brought 1 beach towel. Then Sasha came along and we received 1 hooded baby towel.
About a year later, my brother also went through a divorce and offered me 6 fluffy towels (and a couple washcloths, too). I hesitantly accepted. They've been worked into rotation and get plenty of use. I don't know that we really use more than 4 towels, though. (We re-use our towels that have only been used to dry our clean bodies.) I recently decided I wanted to thin down that laundry basket. We keep the towels in the basket, folded, all the time.
Of course, the main towels I want to keep are the ones that I picked for myself. I also want to keep the beach towel for occasional pool trips (generally just Sasha and myself). We also use the hooded baby towel with Sasha, I'm not ready for it to go. That leaves the towels from my brother.
 Sasha likes a towel to stay wrapped around her,without holding onto it. The hooded towel works great for this! Here she is, asleep after playing wrapped in the towel. |
"What if we really need more than 4 towels," I worried. I bagged that set of towels and washcloths into a bag of their own and placed it in the same area with the Goodwill stuff. We'll have a test run without them. Meanwhile, I mentioned to a friend that I might have some extra towels. He would love to have them! I like to support Goodwill, but if I can find a new home for something where I already know it will get used, I love to do that!
So the towels are saved back for him and he knows we're on a test run without them. His two daughters love to play mermaid in the bath, so he would appreciate extra towels. I'm pretty sure we'll be fine. I know we would have survived if I'd gotten rid of the towels right away. I think we're mostly just waiting to see our friend again, since he lives a few towns over from us.
Are you holding anything back, afraid to let it go ~ in case you find you need it? What will it take to get you over that "what if" hump?
