We’re slowly drowning in kid stuff. We only have one child, yet every nook, corner and closet of this house is stuffed with baby stuff — outgrown clothes, infant playmats, a bottle sanitizer, exer-saucer, swing, crib, changing table, baby blankies, crib mattresses, etc. You know, the things we really need to have hanging around with a 2-year-old.
So why don’t we just get rid of it all? That’s the $1 million question. My husband says we should stop at one child. I’m still trying to decide. But I won’t go into that in this post or else we’ll be here all day. Let’s just say I’m terrified reluctant to get rid of it all.
This weekend is our community’s twice yearly consignment sale that I always find amazing deals at. I decided we’ve got to start clearing some things out if we’re ever going to buy my daughter more clothes or toys, so I’ve been reluctantly sorting through items over the past couple weeks to sell. Surprisingly, I’ve come up with more stuff than I anticipated that I’m willing to part ways with.
This is my first time selling items at a consignment sale (although I’m a frequent shopper!), so I’m a little nervous about how I priced items. Too high? Too low? I ended up choosing 45 items to sell and after I priced everything, it came out to about $200.
Tonight I drop everything off, and today, a wave of panic hit me. How can I get rid of these things? How could my baby have outgrown these toys and clothes already? We’re both having a hard time letting go of things that don’t quite fit into our lives anymore:
If I don't breathe, I think this Dora hat can still fit.
But I finally realized that they’re just things. As much as I LOVE this dress that my dad and stepmom bought her:
I love this picture and memory of her wearing it more.
That’s us on the deck of the Disney Magic when E. was 15 months old. It was our first family vacation and we made so many sweet memories.
Christmas is coming sooner than I can believe, so I thought maybe this Gymboree Gingerbread girl jumper and onesie could bring in some money.
It was hard to let go though because it’s an outfit my BFF Colie got for E. for her first Christmas, and it brought us two great shots. For her first Christmas, the whole outfit still fit:
Look at those gums! She only had two or three teeth then! By her second Christmas, the jumper no longer fit, but the bodysuit still did. And it had a starring role in our annual Santa photo:
Have you ever seen anyone happier to see Santa?
And then there’s one of my favorites. An adorable Lulu Baby outfit I got for a steal at Costco:
This is what E. wore for her 2nd birthday party. Here she is with her grandfather and his special lady friend (and his favorite girl):
So, it’s just stuff. The memories are still there. So why is it so hard to let go? Hey, and maybe I’ll make enough money for a Pumpkin Spice Latte? A girl can dream.
What do you do with your old baby stuff? How have you done at consignment sales?
The minute I saw your Twitter handle I had to check you out! I love that you’re still rockin’ as a mom! I used to do the consignment thing, but it was a lot of work and since I work full time, I didn’t have the time. So now I pay it forward. I am fortunate to get a lot of hand-me downs, so I give clothes to friends with younger kids and toys to charity. Before every birthday and Christmas, I make my kids (ages 3 and 6) go through their rooms and fill a plastic trash bag with toys for charity before they get new stuff. Sometimes they regret giving things away, but I want them to learn to appreciate what they have and share with others. They are getting better about it, as it is normal routine now. It’s cute thought, they think Charity is a person and often ask to go to Charity’s house to play with their old toys… despite me explaing it. 🙂
Paige —
What a wonderful idea and I LOVE that your kids think Charity is a person. Hilarious. I actually kept telling my daughter, who is now 2 1/2 , that her old toys were going to “babies” and she seemed OK with it. I think by early next year (right around 3rd birthday time), maybe we’ll start introducing the idea of paying it forward, too.
And yeah, it was a lot of work. But I realized tonight that even if I don’t make a lot of money there was one humongous perk — getting to shop the night before the sale officially starts since I’m a consignor. Holy crap! I now realize how much good stuff I’ve missed out on over the past couple years. I’ll never *not* consign at least a few items for that golden pass from now on!