New babies come with tons of equipment and clothes. And new mothers are often impulse buyers every time they see a cute onesie or bib or outfit. We can’t imagine as we stare at this cute little baby that he/she will outgrown it in two weeks. I ended up preserving those tender memories by keeping all the clothes in plastic bins feeling a little pang as I packed them away, hoping that my next child would benefit. My second child was the opposite sex, so that did not pan out. At what point should you make the decision to go through the saved baby clothes and make editing decisions?
My client this week had literally no space left in her attic. It was packed with ten years of kids clothing. The first bag she pulled out said 0-12 months boy clothing. She was very emotional opening the first bag. It’s a funny thing, everyone reacts differently. Sometimes there are tears, and sometimes there is relief. Tears because they still want a baby and haven’t come to grips that it may not be in their future. Tears because the tender days are gone and replaced with attitude filled teenagers. But it’s not as hard as you think. When we opened the first bag and saw the clothes, she realized that she didn’t have an attachment to many of them. She decided if she were to have another child, these would be outdated, and some favorites had stains and yellowing. After the first bag, we were able to come up with a solution. Classic outfits in perfect condition, were keepers; if it was too trendy, outdated, worn or stained, we donated. Sentimental garments were placed in a small sentimental bin.
So, at what point do we go through the kids’ outgrown, saved clothing? After seven years, we are allowed to discard our old tax records. I think that’s a good starting point.
