FODDER OF THE WEEK: WHY PACKING AWAY OLD BABY CLOTHING SHOULD ONLY BE DONE BY THE STRONG

Now, I’m not a crier, and few would choose to call me sentimental, but there’s something about sorting through old baby clothing that makes even me choke up a little. Call it nostalgia (for something that just happened two years ago) or longing for a simpler time (when all my daughter did was poop and drink from a bottle), but sifting through old baby clothing just makes you, well, sad. 

Sure, I didn’t do the sorting, and maybe I slept through about half of it, but I watched my pregnant wife go through our daughter’s old clothing to pack it away for what appears to be forever (we’re expecting a second child, a boy, and we’re not planning on having any more), and it reminded me of all the good times we had together. 

I mean first there was the fun of buying the clothing. I’m talking of course about all the clothing we (my wife and I) actually purchased on our own, not the horrific hand-me-downs or the 5 dollar reject bin specials that people bought us as gifts (although we did get some really nice stuff too).  There was the 0-3 pink Superman onesie I picked out for my daughter the day we brought her home. There was the Purple tennis dress I got her that my wife showed off to all her friends because she couldn’t believe her husband “actually picked it out… himself.” There were the little booties, and hats, and leggings and sunglasses we purchased that got worn only once, but sure looked great in all the pictures we took.  There were sleepers that got worn repeatedly because we each had our favorites that we liked to dress her in. And there were the “ensembles” that got buried at the bottom of the bottom drawer which still had their tags on because we never got around to using them. 

There was the fun of showing off the clothing as well- taking pictures to send to family and friends each time we came up with a new combination of pants and tops and toe socks. There was the fun of one upping the other (between my wife and I) to see who could come up with the outfit that got the better reviews (I had my fair share of wins). And there were the arguments over when and where the lavender, sparkly Batman shirt with the white sleeves could make an appearance (usually not at my Mother-in-laws house). 

And I guess there’s a fun aspect to packing it all away- knowing that these tiny articles of clothing carry so many great memories even if they’ve out-lived their usefulness (for your child anyway). It’s sad to see them go; to see them packed away in a cardboard box, or a plastic tote, or one of those vacuum bags that were all the rage back in the 90’s. It’s just really sad- sad to realize how much money you wasted clothing a newborn that really would have been happy spending her day in a white onesie and socks and wrapped in a blankie. 

Man, are new parents stupid. 

But baby clothing is really cute. Not that I’m sentimental or anything.