Longtime readers have no doubt gathered that Lydia is a bit of a clotheshorse. I think she has more clothes than all of the rest of us in the family put together. Much of it is my fault, I admit — even though she has plenty, I keep buying new things for her. It’s just so hard to resist some of the cute things I see, especially when I know how happy they make her. I’m sure part of it, too, is that I live a bit vicariously through her, having never been much of a fashion plate myself.

In any case, we’ve reached a point where we really must do something to reduce the sheer volume of her wardrobe. I mean, she has two dressers plus four under-the-bed storage containers in her room, at least a dozen dresses and other various garments stashed in Tage’s closet, and still I find items of her clothing spilling out onto nearly every available surface in the house. The problem is, she really loves all of these clothes and I’ve had a hard time convincing her to part with any of them.

That is, I had a hard time until I appealed to her other great love: money. No, I haven’t bribed her. Not quite, anyway. What I have done is talk her into selling some of her less-beloved garments on a Swedish auction site, with the promise that she can have any money they bring in. So far this has worked like a charm, and we’ve sold three out of four clothing packages that we’ve put out for bidding. The sale of twelve shirts has brought in 100 kronor, a sum that seems like vast riches to her, particularly when added to her monthly allowance.

For once a problem with a solution that satisfies both of us — who’da thunk it?