My youngest just turned 3 years old, so we have officially left the baby stage behind and are full speed into the school years. Yet, there are a couple of baby things around the house that I simply can’t make myself get rid of. Don’t get me wrong, I love clearing out clutter, and donation day/consignment sale day are some of my favorites. So I’m not sure if my reluctance here is sentimental value or me having trouble accepting that life is moving forward with bigger children and bigger problems. What’s funny is that these things listed here aren’t even heirlooms to be passed down, I have a special bin in the attic for those. Most of this stuff was just everyday baby things that I have formed some bizarre attachment to!
Beaba Baby Food Trays
I don’t look back fondly on my hours once spent pureeing and storing baby food; it was just another chore. I haven’t even made baby food in over two years! And yet these trays continue to survive my clearing out sprees and remain in my kitchen cabinet. For some reason, I keep thinking that I’ll find another use for these silly things. They do make a cute little picnic lunch tray for the park, but I haven’t even done that with them in a long time. Why do I still have these things?
Baby Spoons
Another kitchen item that continues to survive are the baby spoons! Again, I don’t remember feeding a wiggling baby as being a particularly beautiful moment, it was mostly messy and frustrating. At this point, those plastic spoons are six years old and have lived in three different kitchens – because yes, I have actually packed them and moved them twice. How gross are those spoons and why do I think that they might still be useful? I don’t even see them in the drawer anymore, I’m so immune to their presence.
Rock ‘n Play Sleeper
I loved this thing. I could actually wax poetic about the merits of the Rock ‘n Play for hours. But my last kid grew out of it two and a half years ago. It’s taking up valuable space in my attic, but I am so attached to the darn thing. I keep thinking that if someone visits with a baby, it will prove useful to have….this has never happened…it’s totally not useful in this house anymore. It really should go.
Baby Mobile
It hasn’t been hung up for over a year, but I can’t get rid of the bird mobile. The poor thing was so abused. I think that my Mom had to do reconstructive yarn surgery on it twice after an angry kid attacked it. But I can’t image giving it away. It took me months to pick out just the right mobile for the nursery in 2010. It’s quite insane how much thought and consideration I put into that decision, but it was important to me at the time. And once I picked it out, I couldn’t even afford it! I got lucky and received a gift card that I put toward the mobile! Another family just wouldn’t understand the importance of the bird mobile. I should probably call it what it is and pack it in the “special things to save” bin.
Sophie
One of the more controversial items in baby world – you either love her or you’re indifferent to her. She went everywhere with us and received a lot of abuse from my kids. And she’s still hanging around in my basket of diaper bag supplies! Every couple of months when I’m cleaning that basket out, I set her aside and smile at all the good times my kids had chomping and drooling on her…and then I quietly put her back in the basket for the next time that I come along cleaning.
Baby Gym
As with the previously mentioned Rock ‘n Play, I keep thinking that this will be super useful when a friend visits with her baby! I have such fond memories of my baby having a blast with the dangling toys…I hear the little bell ding and it makes me feel happy all over. Since this is a sturdy wooden toy, it might be reasonable to keep as an heirloom for grandchildren. I can’t quite decide, so I continue to overlook it’s presence in my attic storage space. Plain and simple, I don’t want to part ways with this one.
Swaddling Blankets
These things are just plain useful and I will never get rid of them. It’s the one thing on this list that I actually use all the time! My daughter uses them with her dolls and stuffed animals, we roll them up and use them as neck pillows in the car seat, and I always bring them on the airplane because they fold up so small in the diaper bag but are perfect blanket size on the plane. Most useful item EVER.
Baby Wrap
I haven’t been able to squeeze a child into the wrap in two years, but I absolutely cannot part with it for pure sentimental value. Just seeing it on the shelf floods me with happy memories of my babies cuddled up against my chest while tucked into the wrap. My poor third kid truly lived in there for his first year. My friend jokes that it’s a miracle he learned how to walk because she only ever saw him stuck in the wrap…but, hey, my hands were free for chasing after the other people! I am mostly relieved that the baby stages are over, it was a lot of work and very little sleep, but gosh, do I miss those babies snuggled against my chest. It’s one of the best feelings in the world to me.
