Decluttering and kids clothes.........am I too sentimental?

[npmommie]

I am really trying to de-clutter the kid clothes, I have given some away but there is still a mountain to climb here........LOL
My trouble is I look at the stuff and get all sentimental, I know its silly to keep the clothes, because really what will i do with them, and at some point they will end up not useful to anyone I know anymore. because their kids will outgrow them too.
so my question is how much do you keep? do you just keep special outfits? a few outfits from each stage?
I am thinking 1 of those big rubbermaid totes per kid, and what fits in there is all I can keep. the rest has to go.
so am I too sentimental?

 

[Luv2Scrap]

I'm not talented enough to do this, but I've heard of people making a quilt out of their kid's favorite clothes.

I'm hoping to make a couple pillows out of DS's most favorite Disney shirts that he's outgrown. (Wow, I almost forgot the R in shirts! )

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Nope, you're not being overly sentimental at all. Just keep the special ones and sell or donate the rest. My friend told me she makes sure to take pictures of her kids in the special outfits to put with the outfit so that they can have a photo of themselves when they are older in that outfit.

Are there any kids consignment sales in your area? Once you see how much $$ you can make getting rid of your outgrown kids stuff then you won't be quite so sentimental about alot of it.

I kept each of my children's first shoes and a few outfits from their 1st year but anything else went out the door unless it was something handmade by Grandma, etc..

Just wait until they start drawing you pictures and bringing home stacks of papers from school. You can't save it all so that will just be more to sort through and decide what to keep!

Good luck with de-cluttering.

 

[ilovejack02]

I only have kept my son's first cpl of years xmas, Easter and baptismal, home from hospital and maybe two or three other really pricey little outfits that were gifts from Grandma.

MAYBE 10 total. So nice not to have all the clutter, yes I get all sniffy and remember when , when I get rid of something, but I have pictures and memories. The clothes aren't important, the memories are. : )

 

[stashbin]

I keep the hand made items that the kids' grandmother made but everything else I tend to get rid of.

 

[Monte Cristo]

I am thinking 1 of those big rubbermaid totes per kid, and what fits in there is all I can keep.

WOW! That's still a lot of clothes. Those large totes can hold a lot of stuff, I can't believe how much you must have.

What are you going to do with that tub of clothes? Are you going to bring it out and go through it once a year? Once every other year? Are you going to sit down and take the clothes out and remember the child wearing this shirt or that dress? That's what pictures are for...I would be willing to bet once you filled up a tub for each child and put it in the basement, you wouldn't touch it again.

From a male perspective, YES you are being too sentimental. Give the clothes to a family that needs them, buy a digital picture frame and put a bunch of pics on it and be happy someone else's children will enjoy the clothes.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

How old are your kids? I had my kids go thru there own stuff. They decluttered way more than I did.

In fact I am going to go for round 2 this summer. My oldest is in college and the youngest is in 7th grade.

Both of them say, mom why are you keeping this stuff? I don't want it.

Mainly we only kept the handmade stuff like baby quilts. Although I still have all of their rattles. My dd was very sick at birth and also needed an operation in which so many people gave us rattles. I have them linked together in a tote in the basement.

 

[MIGrandma]

I like the picture idea, taking pictures of your kids in their outfits and then donating the clothes to Goodwill or something.

The only clothes of my children's that I kept were the outfits they wore coming home from the hospital. Those are in the cedar chest.

I like the quilt idea too. I recently had a quilt made (queen size) out of my Dad's shirts. He passed away over 2 years ago, so this is a very treasured quilt to me. You could do the same with your kid's clothes, and either keep the quilts yourself or give them to your children when they're adults. I keep my "Dad quilt" on display on a quilt rack in our family room, so I see it every day and enjoy it. I prefer just to display it that way, rather than actually use.

 

[robinb]

I am really trying to de-clutter the kid clothes, I have given some away but there is still a mountain to climb here........LOL
My trouble is I look at the stuff and get all sentimental, I know its silly to keep the clothes, because really what will i do with them, and at some point they will end up not useful to anyone I know anymore. because their kids will outgrow them too.
so my question is how much do you keep? do you just keep special outfits? a few outfits from each stage?
I am thinking 1 of those big rubbermaid totes per kid, and what fits in there is all I can keep. the rest has to go.
so am I too sentimental?

A big tote for EACH kid? Yeah that's too sentimental. I have a few things stashed away like the outfit my DD came home from the hospital in but that's it.

 

[mom2travel]

I am really trying to de-clutter the kid clothes, I have given some away but there is still a mountain to climb here........LOL
My trouble is I look at the stuff and get all sentimental, I know its silly to keep the clothes, because really what will i do with them, and at some point they will end up not useful to anyone I know anymore. because their kids will outgrow them too.
so my question is how much do you keep? do you just keep special outfits? a few outfits from each stage?
I am thinking 1 of those big rubbermaid totes per kid, and what fits in there is all I can keep. the rest has to go.
so am I too sentimental?

No, not too sentimental. You just haven't popped out the practical end of the sentimentality yet At some point I told myself that we have tons of photos in the cute clothes and the clothes themselves are not going be any more of a memory than those.

I also think that when my mother started to clean out her attic and give me "stuff" from when I was a kid I realized what overkill I was accumulating. So most of the clothes and baby accessories were given to friends, sold at a yard sale or donated to charity. I kept very special outfits (e.g., DS' first Christmas outfit) and anything homemade.
I went through the same cycle with art and other papers from school. I cleaned out the vats and kept only a sampling from both kids of their artwork. I also keep report cards, ribbons from field day, programs from school shows, class and team pictures, etc. I also have put aside favorite stuffed animals and books they are too old for now but would be great for their children one day.

I wish I had thought of the quilt thing. But DD uses some of her own baby clothes for her dolls. And we've used some fabric from her old clothes to make doll blankets and pillows.

Good luck!

 

[kirstenb1]

Clutter makes me crazy, so I guess I'm the opposite of sentimental. Still I understand what you're saying. My advice: give the clothes to a close friend, family member or someone you see at church. I love seeing our clothes being worn by someone we're fond of. Almost as good as seeing your own child in them, once again.

 

[Jill in Chicago]

Ask yourself what are you going to do with all of those clothes you saved? Will you give the bins to your children when they are grown? What will they do with the clothes? I think when we want to save our children's clothes it is like trying to save a bit of them when they were at that age: "Look how little this is! I remember she wore this the first day of school...."

I can understand keeping a few baby outfits and that is it.

I love the crafty ideas using up the material of the outfits, but are you really a crafter? Would you actually do a project?

I have taken many photos of large projects my children have done at school or created at home. Then I will journal about it, and add my children's own words. To me, this memory is much better than collecting things that clutter my home.

Also if there is a mountain of clothes take a deep breath and donate them all. The more you touch them, look at them, remember the harder it will be to donate them. I promise out of sight out of mind. You will not miss the clothes.

 

[HM]

I kept the coming home from the hospital clothes and a couple more special pieces for each kid. Everything else was sold at yard sales or given as hand me downs to my sister. It's hard to keep everything that has sentiment attached.

 

[ilovejack02]

Someone mentioned seeing your friend's kids in the clothes is good too : ).

A close friend just posted a pic of her 4 yr old wearing the tshirt that my DS7 wore on his first day of kindergarten .

An orange Gap tee that said Big Man on Campus .

I was so happy to see it on her little man, brought back good memories . : )

 

[EdiePA]

I kept a couple special baby outfits and a pair of shoes. I also collected all of their special T-shirts and made them each a T-shirt quilt as a high school graduation present, to take to college. They're 27 and 25 now and those quilts are very special to them.

They each have one box (medium moving size) of "memories" and I made scrapbooks of their high school highlights.

Edie

 

[minkydog]

You're keeping a Rubbermaid tote full of no-longer-useful-to-you clothes for each kid? Doesn't that seem a little much?

I kept a few special outfits that my kids wore. The outfit they wore home from the hospital. A couple little hats, handmade blankets, baby books, pix. I think I have maybe one small Sterilite box with ALL THREE kids' stuff in it. What would I do with a bunch of baby clothes? My baby is 15! he's taller than I am!

OP, seriously. Let the clothes go to someone else who will appreciate and enjoy them as much as you did. It will give you pleasure to know that someone is so happy with them. Children's clothes cost so much and you could really make a dent in someone's budget if they are struggling. In this economy, it's just the right thing to do.

 

[Wall-E1]

I've done the same with some of my kid's clothes. I save his sports jerseys from little league, soccer, flag football. I also save shirts from when he graduated elementary and middle school since his friends signed them. I'm not sure what I am going to do with them. They just sit in a bin. I don't foresee me ever quilting. Perhaps if I save enough stuff from his childhood, I may one day qualify to appear on an episode of Hoarders.

 

[golfgal]

I have one of those under the bed sized storage totes that is about 1/4th full of my favorite things from ALL of my kids-a couple special outfits and that is about it. I have their baptismal gowns stored as well.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Instead of keeping the "home from the hospital" outfit in a plastic box, you can get a plexiglass frame (on both sides) or a shadow box and display it, adding in the hospital bracelet and maybe the baby hat, too.

I've seen these in hallways of the homes of people I love. It is really neat to see their baby outfits displayed.

 

[SandrA9810]

It is a bit of an overkill to keep clothes unless you know your family is going to get bigger.

I have a drawer of clothes that I wore day in and day out during high school, it's the "I wish I could fit into these again"...
I am bad about keeping shirts from different things. Like the t-shirt of the castle when it was a birthday cake. Took that trip with my sister, and a story to tell with it. I have a few shirts from various places that I've visited, shirts that people have signed, but I'm not afraid to still wear them. Although I've always loved the idea of putting them in a quilt. I don't trust myself to do a good job, so I'll just have to wait till I can afford to pay for it.