Not exactly off to a good start...

​It's ironic that on the same day that I finally clicked the PUBLISH button for my very first post, the very next thing I did was drive an hour from home and buy a large upright piano.  Somehow, my kids seem to have a talent for music.  I don't know where it comes from, but it's not from me.  My wife and I both played percussion in high school, but my experience was mostly the snare drum and occasionally the timpani.  I got to play the school drum set a couple of times but it didn't go well.  I remember trying to play Wipeout during band class and when the big drum solo came up, I was concentrating so hard and thought I was pretty cool.  But I didn't realize I was playing about double the tempo of the rest of the song.  The band director was yelling "Stop, stop stop!" and when I did everyone was staring at me.  Then one of the trombone players got up and took over the drums.  Pretty embarrassing.
Anyway, we already have a perfectly good Hammond organ that the kids have been learning on.  How could I possibly justify making room for a piano and keeping the organ.  After all, we found it on the curb (a story for another time) so I could let it go to a new home for practically nothing and not feel like I lost any money.  So far, this quest for minimalism is a war I'm losing because I now have an old Hammond organ and a beautiful new piano in my home.  The silver lining was that we had to make space in the kids' playroom for the piano and that meant the removal of several toys.
Sometimes, clearing your home of clutter requires some give and take, especially when you have a family that may not be fully on board with your desire to get rid of excess things.  My plan of attack is to wait this one out for a while.  I fully expect that after a few months, they will realize that all they want to play is the piano, not the organ, and that the old Hammond will have been neglected.  Then they will be agreeable to finding a new home for it.  If that never happens, then I guess that's OK too.  If they enjoy playing the organ occasionally instead of the piano then it can stay.  My idea of minimalism isn't necessarily about living in an empty house.  It's about living with just the things that bring joy to the family.