Dust In My Eye

As the weather has been changing, I've slowly been weeding the dresser drawers of clothing that is no longer seasonally appropriate and setting it aside. By "setting it aside" I really mean "Throwing it into the back hall in front of the closet."

See, we have a lot of storage space in this house. But I find that the need for storage space increases with the amount that you have. Meaning that, if you're the kind of person who likes to store stuff, you'll find more stuff to store.

Our back closet was full. It's a big closet. It's a walk-in. It's not insulated, but there is a lot of space in there. But over time it has accumulated a vast number of storage bins full of infant clothes and maternity wear and halloween costumes and car seats and diaper bags and jumpy swings and playpens and baby gates.... I couldn't even walk in.

I've been putting this project off for awhile.

But last night I had an argument with Andy who picked a pair of PJ's from the winter pile to wear, a fleece Winnie-The-Pooh zip-up."It's my favorite!" he said. I knew I had to get the long sleeves out of sight because my kids don't have enough sense to dress themselves.

But storing the Winter clothes they might wear next year meant doing something with the closet, which was spiraling out of control. As I looked at the stacks of storage bins, the clearly labeled "6 - 9 months onesie PJ's" showing through, I knew what I had to do. It breaks my heart, but I am pretty sure we won't be needing those little outfits again.

So I went through the storage bins and took out everything my kids are too big to wear. Back when the kids were little I separated everything because no one told me it didn't matter. I had dozens of smaller zip-loc bags with different types of outfits. These days it's much simpler. "3T Winter" is what you get, and it will probably have some 2T and some 4T and probably some T-shirts.

Anyway, I tried not to look at what I was getting rid of. Little outfits, little newborn T-shirts. The things my babies wore when they were soft and milky and would grab my nose. Little footie things they learned to roll over and crawl in, waving the little feet around in the air. I took it all out and replaced it with dirty T-shirts stained with ketchup and jeans with holes in the knees.

The baby stuff made it as far as the Pool Table, which is where a stack of toys is still sitting, waiting for Goodwill. Some day in the next couple of weeks I'll make a trip and bring it all. I'm sure someone will appreciate the fact that it's all clearly marked and organized.

And me? I'm fine. I just have a little dust in my eye from the storage closet.