A lot of moms walk a fine line between sentimental parent and hoarder of baby things. At first you save the clothes because you might use them for the next baby. But then there comes a time when there will be no more babies and yours is growing up. That’s the time you pull out that big trunk of baby stuff and figure out what you can part with and what needs to be saved. But how on Earth do you decide when it feels like you are giving away your precious memories?

Some stuff is easy. I probably brought a hundred barely used onesies to the kids consignment shop in the first year. Other stuff you know you have to keep, like their baptism outfit, onesie they came home in, items with special meaning, etc. But then there’s other things that are questionable- favorite shirts or souvenir clothing. And in my case yesterday, first costumes.

I still have his first costume. A little white rabbit to go with our Alice and Mad Hatter. I couldn’t part with that one. But I know I can’t save everything, so today I put my first children’s item on Etsy! My son’s little furry monster pants. I made the costume for a “favorite book” costume parade and he went as one of the monsters in Where the Wild Things Are. It even has a little tail.

I’ve got the pics and he doesn’t fit the pants at all anymore. Plus they are fluffy and take up a lot of drawer space. So I finally decided to let them go. I’m hoping they find a nice new home and live on for a few more Halloweens. And that’s the way I’ve found it’s easiest to let the more sentimental items go- pass them on. My favorite thing is to give the old favorites to friends and then later see their kids wearing them.

I’ve found once you are out of the baby stage, the clothes hoarding gets less as they wear things longer and everything gets a little more worn and torn. I still have a container of baby blankies and clothes I’m hanging on to, but I’m getting better at not keeping everything. I’m just still a little on the fence about his Luke PieWalker costume…lol.