By Adrienne Miller of Sterilite Corporation
When my son started outgrowing clothes I cried. First off, why are you growing so quickly? This was baggy on you 4 days ago. And second off, what do I do with these out-grown clothes now? As the pile got bigger and bigger I realized this train wasn’t slowing down anytime soon.
I started with a 64 Quart Fresh Scent Box, I labeled it 0-3 and started two piles. The first pile was just clothes, no sentimental value associated with them. Those went into the Fresh Scent box for future siblings, or consignment. The second pile was the pile of misty emotion - things I will always look at and remember him wearing. For those items I grabbed a 32 Quart Gasket Box. With the gasket sealing out air, and 4 latches to keep it securely closed, I knew his clothes and album would be perfectly safe for years and years.
As I got deeper and deeper into the pile I began thinking that he will have no attachment to this box - this was just for me, and how selfish was that? These are his clothes, he’s the one who rocked these little bow ties, his head fit into these tiny hats - yet, they’re my memories. When he’s 12 or 25 and looking thru this box he’ll be confused as to why these things are in here — why did [my amazing] mom save a basic red polo that could be bought anywhere? Why are there 3 Christmas sweaters in my first-year box?
So, I upped the ante. I broke out the fancy stationary, my favorite pens, and started a letter to my future grown-up son - while he laid next to me napping in the present. I described his 3-month photoshoot, and how that red polo wasn’t supposed to be the star of the show, but how he had puked all over his pristine outfit I had chosen for the occasion. That outfit didn’t make it into the box because I’ll only remember that little red polo from that day. When I finished explaining myself via paper and ink, I went to the printer and fired off some prints of him wearing some of the outfits in the box. I got a small photo album and slid all the photos into the album along with the letter. I tucked away my pregnancy journal, his baby book, and the mini-album alongside the teeny clothes. His first year was complete. I latched the box and tucked it away in the attic.
I will absolutely be doing the same thing for his second year, after that the boxes may be age ranges instead, mostly because toddlers are messy and I’m not sure how much will survive that phase. Life gets busy, they grow faster than you can keep up, but taking the time to preserve the memories will always be worth it in the end.
Also, bring tissues.
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