Is cleaning out my children's closets. Why? Because several of my distinct, outrageously strong personality traits are working at cross-purposes:
1. ORGANIZATION! Everything MUST be organized! But what do you do when clothing manufacturers deviate from the standard X-Y months or ZT sizing. WHAT DO YOU DO?
2. KINDNESS! Everything that doesn't fit my children must be handed down to the next generation of babies and toddlers so that their parents freely benefit from our stash!
3. FRUGALITY! Everything that is handed off to someone (see #2) who has a boy child younger between my youngest (2) and oldest (7) boys will need to return the clothes so that I can use them again for my youngest. So I mark the tags with identification, slightly worrying that the loanee will think I'm not gracious.
4. SENTIMENTALITY! I don't have an eidetic memory, but I have a pretty good one, and visions of my kids as tiny newborns snuggled up in that fuzzy jacket or onesie are overpowering. Also, I have a hard time getting rid of things. I blame being the sixth of seven children and not having a lot of my own stuff before the age of fourteen, when I was a babysitting machine and could buy my own NEW barrettes, goddammit, and not have to use the ancient ones with the gold paint that's half flaked off.
5. IRONY! I have come to believe that irony is the guiding principle of my life, and that if I get rid of all of the baby stuff, I will suddenly, inexplicably find myself pregnant. IT HAS HAPPENED TO WOMEN NAMED MARY BEFORE.
THIS is the cocktail that bubbles in my brain while I am stacking 2T polo shirts and deciding if a onesie is stain free enough to keep. But, I must be the one to complete this chore because if I outsourced it to my husband, he'd just chuck everything and call it a day.
So, let's all just stay out of the guest room where the maelstrom of clothes is lurking, okay?
1. ORGANIZATION! Everything MUST be organized! But what do you do when clothing manufacturers deviate from the standard X-Y months or ZT sizing. WHAT DO YOU DO?
2. KINDNESS! Everything that doesn't fit my children must be handed down to the next generation of babies and toddlers so that their parents freely benefit from our stash!
3. FRUGALITY! Everything that is handed off to someone (see #2) who has a boy child younger between my youngest (2) and oldest (7) boys will need to return the clothes so that I can use them again for my youngest. So I mark the tags with identification, slightly worrying that the loanee will think I'm not gracious.
4. SENTIMENTALITY! I don't have an eidetic memory, but I have a pretty good one, and visions of my kids as tiny newborns snuggled up in that fuzzy jacket or onesie are overpowering. Also, I have a hard time getting rid of things. I blame being the sixth of seven children and not having a lot of my own stuff before the age of fourteen, when I was a babysitting machine and could buy my own NEW barrettes, goddammit, and not have to use the ancient ones with the gold paint that's half flaked off.
5. IRONY! I have come to believe that irony is the guiding principle of my life, and that if I get rid of all of the baby stuff, I will suddenly, inexplicably find myself pregnant. IT HAS HAPPENED TO WOMEN NAMED MARY BEFORE.
THIS is the cocktail that bubbles in my brain while I am stacking 2T polo shirts and deciding if a onesie is stain free enough to keep. But, I must be the one to complete this chore because if I outsourced it to my husband, he'd just chuck everything and call it a day.
So, let's all just stay out of the guest room where the maelstrom of clothes is lurking, okay?
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