Do you really need ALL of those "meaningful" baby clothes?
You can never have too many nicely-organized storage bins, right? Especially when they’re storing the most precious thing of all — memories!
What about those bins of baby clothes, though? I’d limited myself to one bin per child, but they were really big bins. And I’d only kept the items I really loved, having handed down the rest to friends.
Surely there was room in our house to store the outfits they wore home from the hospital? What about the little sleeper I always plucked first from the clean laundry because it was so cute?
Oh wait, more than one bin each — I was also saving every single item I’d sewn them. I mean, how could I get rid of something I slaved over creating? So that meant there were a few more bins filled with everything from little sunhats and dresses to T-shirts, tunics, button-ups, leggings, sweaters, shorts, pyjamas, skirts, pants and bathing suits.
I was drowning in tiny outfits that didn’t fit anyone in the house. We never opened the bins or admired the contents, either; I just cracked the lids occasionally to cram more inside. I wasn’t keeping everything, but I was definitely hoarding anything handmade or “sentimental” — like the T-shirt they wore as part of their soccer uniform.
I think I had vague ideas about saving items for my sister to put on her own children, one day down the road. Or maybe even for my grandchildren to wear? But really, I think I just didn’t like the idea of parting with it.
I finally got fed up with myself one day recently. Yes, the kids’ closets could continue to store those bins. Yes, I could keep adding to my little collection. But these days I’m sewing almost everything they wear — even undies, sometimes — which means I’d be saving nearly every piece of clothing that touches their bodies . . . for years …
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Heather's Handmade Life 