As I have frequently alluded, I am in the midst of serious decluttering of our home and its 12 years, six moves, and eight children's worth of STUFF. I, the queen of organization and preparedness (snort, gag, cough... I'm okay now), am bit by bit working my way through all those sweet little children's clothes, and while there are pangs of sentimentality during this process, my goal is the following: to have only one box of clothes stored for each child, containing only what that child will wear in the next year. Sounds a lot better than my current towers of rubbermaid bins, clearly marked with NB, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, and so on, up through size 12, in pink for the girls' clothes and blue for the boys'.
Today I have begun with my girl baby clothes. (Ack, why start there, those are the HARDEST to give up!) Reason being, I have two sisters both expecting girls in the next 2-4 months, and I would be a greedy big sister if I didn't pass them along, seeing how my 10mo little girl has finally outgrown her 3-6 month clothes. She's a little bug, for sure, which makes it all the harder to see those cute little newborn outfits go, since she's only my second baby to actually be able to WEAR that size for more than a week.
Am I getting to the point, yet? sigh. I am up to the 18 month size girls clothes this afternoon, and am trying to decide if my bugaboo will be able to wear them within the next year. Somehow I doubt it, since her 2 1/2 year old-- and just as petite-- sister only just grew out of them, for reasons of height, not girth.
I can't bring myself to toss these in a black bag with the rest of the stuff I never care if I see again. So here I ask, is there some sweet little fairy out there who would wear an 18mo size either this summer or winter who would benefit from a box of these clothes? I'd prefer to pass them to another mom taking a leap of faith who can truly appreciate the gifting of pass-around clothing, and maybe in a year I'll see them again, if they aren't worn out first. ;)
Takers?
Oh, and ps, I'll be continuing this treatment for baby boy clothes too. My baby boy is 4 1/2, so there's going to be a lot there. It's about time someone else used what otherwise would continue to sit, very organized-like, in my neatly labeled Rubbermaid boxes. Somehow it just doesn't seem right anymore. I mean, do I believe the Lord will provide, or don't I??
4 comments:
We have the tubs-o-clothes collection, too. And a similar dilema in that the clothes that my niece is wearing this summer are 2Ts and Callie will probably just be in 18 mos next summer. Maybe. She's almost 8 mos now and just coming into the 3-6 mo clothes....
Our plan is that the sister to last use the tubs-o-clothes is responsible for weeding out the stained/worn out/not as cute clothes, replacing them/adding to the collection, and storing them until the next Smith Girl comes along. :)
Pam, I totally agree with your statement about do we really believe the Lord will provide. We lost EVERYTHING in hurricane Katrina. When we evacuated I only packed four days of clothes for each child and had one small tote bag of toys for the kids to play with in the car. Everything else was lost. Photos, my wedding dress, baptismal gowns, family videos, you name it. Anyway, point is, we realized how we had so much STUFF that we never needed and we are determined to never again be "horders" as my husband likes to call it, of things. We really try to live with the idea that if it's not being used and won't be used in the very near future, it needs to go to someone else.
I don't even really stock up on a lot of groceries. For one, I really can't think beyond getting thru this week and secondly, it just doesn't make sense to me to have a freezer stocked with food when you live in hurricane alley and could at any time loose electricity. If puzzles me when I see others pantry's that are stocked as if they are awaiting doomesday.
Anyhow, I appreciate your thoughts. When I get another minute I plan to respond to your previous post. It's great to see you blogging again!
Prudent foresight v. selfish stockpiling: yeah, a daily dilemma for us all. Having family and friends nearby to pass clothes back and forth seems like a great answer!
Monique, holy cow! Didn't realize you'd been through Katrina. >>We really try to live with the idea that if it's not being used and won't be used in the very near future, it needs to go to someone else.<< Seems like a great rule of thumb to me. Now, down to my rubbermaids...
I learned a similar system from Amy Dacyczyn (of "Tightwad Gazette" fame) Every spring, right before garage sale season, she'd take inventory, and literally keep a list of how many of each clothes for each kid (two play long sleeves, two nice long sleeves, etc. to fit in one box) Then she could plan ahead up to two years (and thus afford to pay less) I think she budgeted $50 for 6 kids a year (including winter outer-wear). Something I have been trying to aspire to (with just one boy and one girl and one to come). I'm overwhelmed with the hand-me-down girl clothes from cousins and new outfits from grandparents). Plus, my mom saved all three her daughters' clothes (!)
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