Kids are away....and I am not sleeping, exercising or sewing, I am cleaning out the old nursery come playroom. No, no exciting news! Just the weight of mess was weighing me down.
It is pretty much tidy now except for all the treasures I have stored in it's cupboards and this....
We laughingly call it the old boyfriend chest here; filled with cards, letters, postcards, photos, gifts and keepsakes from the pre-marriage era.
But it isn't just the old boyfriend chest, it is these hanging in the wardrobe as well...
I don't think I am keeping these as 80's night dressups as i really had better get off the computer and go exercising if that's the case....(I'll be back from my run by about 2010!!!)
No, it's just the unwillingness to shed the memories, here's a taste....
What have you done with the treasured 11th birthday clock that wont work, or the cigar box of old newspaper clippings of boyfriends/cute teens who managed to get in the local paper, or your badges from a life changing Russia trip, the special music single from a long ago romance, the miniature 21st birthday cake from a friend who wont come back again? Even the little pink notebook (in the top left corner) from 1981 with the pattern for legwarmers!!! (Call me if you want the second page, lol!!!)
Can you throw it out? Who are we keeping these things for? What is all this stuff for?
Perhaps patchwork is the ultimate keeping of 'stuff'?
I have done a bit more work on my friend's mum's string quilt, she is a stuff keeper, all these scraps of her kids clothes were kept "in case". She has done well and after 20 years someone who appreciates that has come along...on about the day her girls were making her go through everything and throw it out.
She now gets a quilt, and I get to say thank you for a lot of the memories that are stored in that trunk.
My DH doesn't have "stuff", doesn't take photos either, his only bow to history is a daily diary, kept mainly for farm reference, but kept daily no less. For him 'the now' seems to be enough. So should I throw my stuff or keep...what do you do?
My DH doesn't have "stuff", doesn't take photos either, his only bow to history is a daily diary, kept mainly for farm reference, but kept daily no less. For him 'the now' seems to be enough. So should I throw my stuff or keep...what do you do?
Oh, while you are thinking about that, here are the semi skeletal reasons why I would be running until 2010....amd why I am glad my DH is happy with "the now"!!
Have a great day, Tracey
12 comments:
I say keep it, but then I'm a hoarder - the result I think of having a mother who kept nothing!
One idea I have seen is to take a picture of the sentimental items and then 'scrapbook' the photo - put it somewhere with an explanation of why it was special, and then toss the item itself, but I haven't been able to bring myself to do that...lol
Love seeing the early pictures of you!!
No you should definitely chuck it. I say that as the sister who keeps nearly everything (as opposed to the sister who throws out everything.
I've thrown out the dresses, but I have photos of them. I sometimes wonder if my daughter would have got enjoyment out of them like I did my Mum's old outfits from the 60's and 70's. But its too late now. As for the boyfriend box, I still have mine. I figure it might be good for a laugh in my old age. Its way back in the bottom of a cupboard somewhere.
I keep stuff for a while but then in a fit of "I will tidy this house no matter what" I throw it out. In the end it doesn't bother me. Most stuff I haven't looked at for years - unless I moved it to find something else...vbg. Ashley on the other hand keeps just about everything. Who knows when you might need that tiny piece of metal for something useful....roflmol.
Do what feels right for you....not that that is probably much help.
Don't you just love rummaging through old photos and stuff? Great hair to go with the dresses! Well I've moved an awful lot and could never keep everything. I have my fair share of treasures that I'll never part with. My 20 something daughter wishes I still had my purple bell bottom cords and a few other choice bits of clothes from the 1970s.
When you get to nearly seventy, then it is time to pass all this GOOD stuff on or out. fortunately our daughter Andrea put her hand up and she has become the keeper of the bits and bobs. The photos were lovely, times change but memories linger on.
Hi Tracey, keep the dresses,I still have a dress what DH loved me to where, however, I am suffering from middle age spread, no hope of fitting into it now.LOL. Regards Lyn
When you find the answer . . . let me know. I'm not a pack rat, but I do tend toward difficulty in letting go *s*
I would donate the dresses, but NEVER throw out the memory box contents. I would just continue to add life memories to the collection. :)
The things in that chest are what makes you you, or rather what has made and shaped and moulded you to become the you you are now. I love all these sorts of things, the trips you go down memory lane when looking at them, the misty feelings you get. Good for you for still holding on to it all.
But as for the dresses ... OP SHOP ! ROFL Actually I think you should keep them for your daughter to play dress ups in.
I occasionally have a massive clear out, but things like DD's first lock of hair, her eye teeth and family memento's stay. I've still got 2 ballgowns from those heady days. I don't want to get rid of them as they hold so many memories.
Thats easy, you have to keep it!! Having said that I have just ordered a book that will instruct me how to 'declutter' my home!! I have 'memory' boxes for all of us and love wasting a few hours every now and then remembering the past and celebrating the present.
Love the dresses!!!!!!!!!
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