Cleaning House: Saying Goodbye

I should be writing my training for my Arbonne retreat this weekend - not writing an entry for my blog. I can't help it. My mind is distracted. I've been doing some decluttering, re-organizing, and purging. It feels good to get rid of all the extra stuff taking up space that we no longer need or use. This task has led to the discussion of all of our baby stuff that is taking up space in my parents' basement. What to do with it? The gender neutral baby equipment and ALL the baby clothes. Even now I can envision it stored in my parents basement, carefully stored and packed away.

I'm emotionally attached. The very thought of getting rid of all of our big purchased items, that was supposed to be used more than once for our family, puts my stomach in knots. Yet, I know that our beautiful, top rated BOB Travel System complete with the Running Stroller (I saved every Amazon gift card and more for this), has an infant seat that will soon expire if I don't pass this on to another family in need. (It's selfish to hold onto this for sentimental reasons, right?)

I remember how tiny Marlee was in that car-seat when we brought her home from the hospital. The nurses were excited to see we had a BOB infant car-seat because, "She will sure pass the test." In that moment, I remembered feeling proud (for all of my diligent research on infant car-seats) and grateful that we were able to have it. We had no way of knowing that our sweet little girl would be born 5weeks early and so tiny that not all standard infant car-seats would work for her.

Our baby highchair, pack-n-play with the bassinette and little animal mobile, the carefully selected crib, precious little bassinette that allowed her to sleep so close, and all the other things packed into the yellow room in my parents' basement. Containers of infant clothes. Favorite dresses, memories made in specific clothes, and the outfit we brought you home in. Those too are hard for me to part with.

I think of that room and all of the baby items that are sitting, collecting dust, and I think of our past; sweet little baby Marlee, our present; our growing toddler, and our future; grateful to be Marlee's mom, but guilty for wanting more.

I need advice. Am I crazy for having such a hard time letting these things go? Some of this is normal, right? If I kept one thing, what should it be?