When I was growing up, whenever I went to my Grammie's house (which was a lot, like almost everyday) I would look at the baby dress hanging in the closet in the spare room. When I was born, my Grammie was so thrilled to have a granddaughter. She went to the mall before going to the hospital and bought the tiniest, pinkest, frilliest dress she could find, remembering how hard it was to find clothes small enough for my just-barely-6lb brother. She then went to the hospital with this fancy little dress and met me, her almost 9 lb granddaughter. I never wore the dress, but my Grammie kept it and would always tell me "someday you'll have a little girl who will wear it." As it turns out, I did have a tiny little girl who was a smaller version of her mother, and probably would have fit that little dress perfectly. But the dress somehow got lost after my Grammie died, and Talia never got to wear it, either.
So while I always knew that my Grammie had saved the dress for my future children, I didn't realize my Mom also spent my childhood quietly packing away stuff my future children. Around here, we call her Mrs. Bringitin, as she is always showing up for a weekend visit with boxes and boxes of things for my Dad to haul in from the truck. Talia has all of my old table & chairs set, my Cabbage Patch Kids, My Little Ponies, Smurfs, and the dishes & food from my old kitchen. She also has a few of my outfits. Some are special outfits, like the gown she was Christened in, or the dress I wore in my 1 year picture. Others, like the one she's wearing in this picture, are just everyday things.
I find it difficult to find a balance between keeping the amount of stuff that we have to a reasonable amount, and wanting to save things. I see how thrilled my Mom is to see Talia using the things she saved. I see her tear up when Talia is in one of my old outfits and Grammie gets to go back in time and get a glimpse of her own baby girl from 30 years ago.
But seriously. The basement is out of control. I don't need the crew from Hoarders ringing my doorbell anytime soon, yo. I really need to purge a few things. Maybe. First, I'm going to have a tea party with my daughter and my old friends: Gilberta Rhoda, Alphonso Clayton, and Blanche Joylene. (What was with those old CPK names?!?)
3 comments:
Ellery Patrick, Amber Leigh & Cassidy Rae.
What a difficult decision. It is awesome that your Mom saved so much stuff for Talia.
(And I mean Smurfs? My Little Ponies? Cabbage Patch dolls?
A - that stuff is just COOL.
B - I don't know about the Cabbage Patch dolls, but Smurfs and My Little Ponies are back. That's just awesome. Of course, if Talia were older and "into" this stuff, she may not be happy playing with the last generation.)
As for deciding what to keep and what to part with, I can't imagine how you'll do it. It should be automatic to keep her favorite toys/dolls when growing up, but as for other stuff? And clothes?
Good luck. I'm laughing wITH your situation, not AT it. (Sure. My eyes didn't roll there.)
Would you like to swing by my mom's house and play with all of my Barbie's and Strawberry Shortcakes?
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