Yard Sale Musings from Mom

[Briarmom]

Do other mothers sit and have flashbacks while having a yard sale?

Today I had several as I watched memories being loaded into other peoples cars.

Do other mothers smile when the stack of Elmo VHS walk away? Those tapes were rewound over and over while driving north to Alaska with an 18 month old.

What about that kitty that meows when you press it's heart? Ds made his sister laugh until she was red in the face with that thing.

The toy kitchen ds got for his first Christmas. He was 9 months old. He used it to pull up on and sort of balanced against it. He will be 7 in a few days.

Hardest for me was the glider. I nursed my babies for hours in that thing. I rocked them when they had a fever. I read 'Green Eggs and Ham' a million times and 'Ten Little Ladybugs' 2 million. Every nick on the back has a story. Perhaps a cold. Maybe a bad dream or a tooth.

Where did the time go?
Just wondering if other moms (or dads) have these floods of memories sometimes.

 

[tevagirl]

You're killing me.

 

[just.me]

thats why I keep everything...


well at least use to - I am tryin gto break my hoarding habit - how do you do it

 

[joshsmom]

Maybe I haven't had a yard sale in such a long time because I can't bear the flood of emotions that come with tearing myself away from some of those sentimental things. Luckily, there isn't too much of that stuff so it doesn't clutter the house. I think most of the other stuff I've given to charities. I don't have much time for a yard sale either! People around here ring your doorbell at 4am wondering if you're ready yet!!

 

[Pixiedust34]

Tomorrow I have to organize a lot of our old clothes and toys to drop off at a semi-annual consignment sale.

Dd dropped a bombshell. She wants to get rid of...........................................................................Candyland!

Did you hear me? I said, "Candyland!" I know, I know, most moms would be glad to say good-bye to that board game. But, I'm not one of them.
I love Candyland! I spent hours playing it when I was a kid. And I spent hours playing it with my kids. Now the "Candyland stage" of our family is finished. It makes me cry to get rid of our Candyland set, but there's really no reason to keep it. The kids haven't played it for ages. I hope it gets a good home!

{big sniff}

 

[TinkerBess_SnowTori]

OMG - that is exactly what is going to happen to me this spring - only I will not be smiling - I will cry thinking about all the memories.

In fact lately, I burst into tears just looking at my girls remembering how little they used to be, things they used to say, looking at how much they have grown ... I mourn for the toddler and preschool days and am enjoying this time where they are growing and learning so much, but I know it is over too soon and that makes me cry too.

 

[agnes!]

Do NOT get rid of Candyland. Your DD (if/when she is blessed to become a mom) will probably want it for her kids. Have ONE large clear plastic tub, put Candyland and maybe one special toy or *ONE* special outfit in there from each year. This way you've contained the urban clutter that plagues all our homes, but kept something sentimental.

Speaking as someone who knows...
When sentimental memories overwhelm us with the sheer number of objects it take to catalogue them all, then everything just becomes "clutter" and, in some extreme cases, even *junk* .

agnes!

 

[winniedapooh]

Tomorrow I have to organize a lot of our old clothes and toys to drop off at a semi-annual consignment sale.

Dd dropped a bombshell. She wants to get rid of...........................................................................Candyland!

Did you hear me? I said, "Candyland!" I know, I know, most moms would be glad to say good-bye to that board game. But, I'm not one of them.
I love Candyland! I spent hours playing it when I was a kid. And I spent hours playing it with my kids. Now the "Candyland stage" of our family is finished. It makes me cry to get rid of our Candyland set, but there's really no reason to keep it. The kids haven't played it for ages. I hope it gets a good home!

{big sniff}

You have not experience playing Candyland until you play the never ending game of Candyland...lol. I am sure it will be well loved and get a great home. I am so glad there are other sentimental Mom's out there besides me, some of my friends think I am nuts!

 

[disfanatiks]

Well,,,,, I would be crying too only I have not parted with much stuff of my DD's at all. She is now 15 1/2. Just this past weekend....DH finally said, you have kept her life this long I am renting a storage unit to keep it until we have grandchildren one day.

So we filled a 5 x 10 storage room with all of my daughter's stuff. (Well...not the stuff that is in my dad's attic...like the carousel rocking horse, etc. etc )

And now I can park my SUV in the garage...

 

[Pixiedust34]

I am going to keep the Candyland game! I just couldn't put a price tag on it. The darn thing is priceless to me. I'll set it aside with the few other things I've saved and that's that.

 

[Briarmom]

Dh is in the AirForce, so saving stuff and moving it from place to place (often teeeny little AirForce places) is not an option for me. Of course I have saved some outfits and stuff.
I feel better about it today. We have a lot of memories ahead.

 

[tevagirl]

Dh is in the AirForce, so saving stuff and moving it from place to place (often teeeny little AirForce places) is not an option for me. Of course I have saved some outfits and stuff.
I feel better about it today. We have a lot of memories ahead.

I'm glad you are feeling better today. You are right, you are about to make some wonderful memories. Take alot of pictures, you are going somewhere that most of us will only dream about going. You'll be back before you know it.

 

[SleepyMom]

At our last yard sale DD had picked out a ton of VHS movies to sell. All during the sale whenever someone would pick up one certain movie and look at it my heart would drop and I told myself to grab it and put it back in the house if they didn't buy it. Then I would get busy and forget and then a new person would be holding that movie and my heart would drop again. Then this one person didn't put that movie down and they ended up buying it, I was heartsick thinking of all the times we watched it and how much DD loved it, I couldn't believe she would sell it. But it was gone I found it on DVD last year and bought it The movie? Matilda

 

[SpecialK]

This is why DH goes to the basement alone with a big box of black garbage bags. He goes through their toys and packs up the stuff they no longer use and gives it away. We both know that if I was with him, half the stuff would stay because I'm attached to it even if the kids aren't.

 

[redshoes]

I was thinking the exact same thing today- We are getting ready to move into our new home and I thought long and hard about the fact that we really have no idea if there will be another baby in our family again. So, I went through boxes and boxes of baby clothes today. I didnt have the heart to do it when we packed up our old house but today it just seemed like it was time to let go. It's funny how things hold memories in them. I love that my boys are changing everyday and I'm honored to watch them grow- but it's sad to realize they will never be that small again.

 

[disneymcgraw]

When we have a yard sale, I can't participate. My wonderful husband gets everything ready and takes care of the selling. I usually go out for the day. He says that I'm crazy but it's just too emotional for me. I call it memory money lol. It's just so hard to part with things that in reality have no use anymore. I'm glad that I'm not alone.