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Well, it wasn't really play, but I did manage to get a few things done today that I would not normally have been able to accomplish in such a short time without hearing the standard "Mommy! Can you do this for me?" and "Mommy! I need your help!". (Yes, my son still calls me "Mommy" - not Ma, and not Mom or Mother...But MOMMY! Ah, the joys of homeschooling!) Or, from my ever loving but collector-of-everything-throw-nothing-out-cheap ...er...thrifty Hubby "You're not giving that away are you?" or "Do you know how much we paid for that?" or the famous "you could sell that in a garage sale you know" - as if he sticks around long enough when we are having a garage sale to know exactly how much work one of them is...but I digress...
I went into our dark basement...alone...scary in itself...and picked out a couple plastic tubes and brought them upstairs. Set one on the floor and one on the chair and began to sort into piles: "Give Away" and "Keepsake Box".
They were Baby Clothes.
Weep...Weep...Sniffle...All out good bawling session while no one is around to witness it because my baby is not a baby any longer...
Through two big old plastic tubs of stuff, I ended up with one neat little stack of baby items that we are putting in Squirt's Keepsake Box. A sleeper my Grandmother bought for him along with a soft fluffy blanket one of my friends gave us, a cute little outfit my Hubby picked out himself - a little suit and tie combo - and a few other special items. The rest were placed into plastic bags and delivered next door. She does not have babies, but she has plenty of friends who are having babies and are in need of baby items due to low income levels. The clothes are going to be put to good use rather than just sitting in our basement taking up space.
I have to admit that once I had the items sorted I almost did not put them into the bags. Almost. I looked at the neat piles of 3 month old clothes and started to remember when Squirt was so tiny those little sleepers were actually too long on him. I got all weepy-eyed again. Then I quickly placed them into green bags so I could not see what was inside them.
But I knew. I set the bags near the entry way as I filled them - did I mention the tubs were BIG tubs? Very BIG tubs? Packed and stuffed so full the lids had to be taped on with duct tape? Yeah, I filled MORE than a couple bags. So once I had the bags filled, I put on the coat and proceeded to make a few trips to the neighbours.
I almost did not make it out the door the first time. I almost stopped and was going to turn the other direction and take the bags to the basement. Almost.
I trekked across the yard and knocked on the neighbour's door and said "I have some baby cloths for your friends" and proceeded to fill her house with bags.
It got so much easier after the first bag. So much easier that by the time I was done lugging the stuff over there and she mentioned that one of her friends was looking for a crib mattress because the cat sprayed all over her's, I was QUICK to volunteer our old crib mattress. After all, the crib is no good any longer because Squirt broke a clip that holds the rails in place and it cannot be replaced any longer (well, it can...but the piece costs almost as much as the crib cost us to begin with.)
I trekked across the back yard to the shed, dug out the mattress and dragged it over there as well while her hubby proceeded to fill up his truck to take things to her various friends.
I also took the baby bath tub and the baby bath seat (holds baby up in the bigger tub and frees Mommy's hands to wash baby and not worry about slippage). I took a bag of Playtex bottles (sans nipples) and some extra liners that had never been opened. I took...Well...I just took a whole bunch of stuff over there and freed up some space in the shed as well as a whole corner of our basement storage area.
So now I am left with this feeling of accomplishment over having cleared out that much in such a short time. No, I did not make any money from these items but I know they are going to people who really need them so I feel good about it.
I also learned something. I got rid off all those things and you know what? The memories of my son as a baby did NOT disappear with them! The memories are STILL HERE!!! In my heart and in my mind! I don't need to have the ALL the stuff that he wore as a baby because after all, it is not the stuff that makes the memories but the people - in this case, the birth of my son. I have baby pictures of him and I have him every day so why do I need to clutter my house with stuff?
And now I have these two big old plastic tubs sitting in the middle of my kitchen.
Wonder what I can fill them with...
I wonder if Squirt would notice a few toys missing from his room...AKA "Toys R Us"...
I still have a couple hours before he's scheduled to return....
I went into our dark basement...alone...scary in itself...and picked out a couple plastic tubes and brought them upstairs. Set one on the floor and one on the chair and began to sort into piles: "Give Away" and "Keepsake Box".
They were Baby Clothes.
Weep...Weep...Sniffle...All out good bawling session while no one is around to witness it because my baby is not a baby any longer...
Through two big old plastic tubs of stuff, I ended up with one neat little stack of baby items that we are putting in Squirt's Keepsake Box. A sleeper my Grandmother bought for him along with a soft fluffy blanket one of my friends gave us, a cute little outfit my Hubby picked out himself - a little suit and tie combo - and a few other special items. The rest were placed into plastic bags and delivered next door. She does not have babies, but she has plenty of friends who are having babies and are in need of baby items due to low income levels. The clothes are going to be put to good use rather than just sitting in our basement taking up space.
I have to admit that once I had the items sorted I almost did not put them into the bags. Almost. I looked at the neat piles of 3 month old clothes and started to remember when Squirt was so tiny those little sleepers were actually too long on him. I got all weepy-eyed again. Then I quickly placed them into green bags so I could not see what was inside them.
But I knew. I set the bags near the entry way as I filled them - did I mention the tubs were BIG tubs? Very BIG tubs? Packed and stuffed so full the lids had to be taped on with duct tape? Yeah, I filled MORE than a couple bags. So once I had the bags filled, I put on the coat and proceeded to make a few trips to the neighbours.
I almost did not make it out the door the first time. I almost stopped and was going to turn the other direction and take the bags to the basement. Almost.
I trekked across the yard and knocked on the neighbour's door and said "I have some baby cloths for your friends" and proceeded to fill her house with bags.
It got so much easier after the first bag. So much easier that by the time I was done lugging the stuff over there and she mentioned that one of her friends was looking for a crib mattress because the cat sprayed all over her's, I was QUICK to volunteer our old crib mattress. After all, the crib is no good any longer because Squirt broke a clip that holds the rails in place and it cannot be replaced any longer (well, it can...but the piece costs almost as much as the crib cost us to begin with.)
I trekked across the back yard to the shed, dug out the mattress and dragged it over there as well while her hubby proceeded to fill up his truck to take things to her various friends.
I also took the baby bath tub and the baby bath seat (holds baby up in the bigger tub and frees Mommy's hands to wash baby and not worry about slippage). I took a bag of Playtex bottles (sans nipples) and some extra liners that had never been opened. I took...Well...I just took a whole bunch of stuff over there and freed up some space in the shed as well as a whole corner of our basement storage area.
So now I am left with this feeling of accomplishment over having cleared out that much in such a short time. No, I did not make any money from these items but I know they are going to people who really need them so I feel good about it.
I also learned something. I got rid off all those things and you know what? The memories of my son as a baby did NOT disappear with them! The memories are STILL HERE!!! In my heart and in my mind! I don't need to have the ALL the stuff that he wore as a baby because after all, it is not the stuff that makes the memories but the people - in this case, the birth of my son. I have baby pictures of him and I have him every day so why do I need to clutter my house with stuff?
And now I have these two big old plastic tubs sitting in the middle of my kitchen.
Wonder what I can fill them with...
I wonder if Squirt would notice a few toys missing from his room...AKA "Toys R Us"...
I still have a couple hours before he's scheduled to return....
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