It’s garage sale season, and my mom is downsizing in a serious way. She’s been in the process of moving from a four bedroom house to a two bedroom condo. It’s been a bit crazy. We’ve had four garage sales in five weeks. Each time we think we’re done she finds more stuff to purge.
It’s been a bit strange. Sorting through all the parts of my childhood that she’s held on to for so many years. Deciding what to pitch and what to keep. So many memories, so many things I feel sentimental about, from bulky pieces of furniture to little scraps of paper. My mother reminds me it’s all just stuff, and I try to let most of it go.
As we sorted through boxes of stuff to price to put out for one of the yard sales we found the baby outfit and soft spiderweb like handknit blanket my mom wore during her Christening. Another time my mom dug up a handmade romper that she had sewn, one I remember wearing as a child. The four year old insisted on trying it on, though it barely fit her. She was every bit as enchanted with the Peter Rabbit buttons as I remember being.
 |
| Those buttons are magic. |
My mom has moved into the new place now, and as she unpacks we continue to weed through the stuff, finding things to get rid of. Every few days she shows up at my door with small plastic bins full of an odd assortment of old report cards and birthday cards, unpunched paper doll books, projects I did in highschool and things I drew in grade three.
In between helping my mom, I’ve been sorting through my own house. Trying to make space and find places for some of the special things I’ve decided to keep; my dad’s hifi stereo, the antique corner hutch that was always in our dining room, that cool art deco mirror from my grandmother’s house, all of the Fisher Price Little People.
 |
| Absolutely couldn’t let go of this awesome mirror. |
I find myself trying to tackle my daughters closets for the umpteenth time. I’m done having babies, so why do I still have boxes full of baby clothes? It was so easy to pack it away the little outfits as my girls outgrew them, but when it comes time to actually sell them I find myself oddly reluctant. So many cute little outfits that I purchased over the years. And now I know it’s time to sort through it all once more (you wouldn’t exactly be shocked if I told you the kids got into the closets and mixed up the clothes AGAIN, right?)
There’s a big block sale coming up for the street I live on, so one more yard sale to go. I can’t decide if I want to try and sort and price all of the baby clothes in time for this sale, or hold on to them until the Fall and put them out for the big local Mom2Mom sale. Or heck, do I even want to get rid of all of them? Do I want to keep a few pieces to hand back to my girls when they are older? Should I stop being so sentimental and just let them all go? Is holding on to cute baby clothes just prolonging the inevitable and in twenty-some years I’ll just be digging them out of the back of my dresser and donating them to the Goodwill, like my mom has been?
What about you guys? Keep or set free? Do you hold on to baby outfits? What treasures are you holding on to from your kid’s childhood? or your own?
Leave a Reply