Holding On...Letting Go

Have you ever held on to something for future use?

I did.

No, I wouldn't consider myself a pack rat, however, for almost 6 years I've carted around my 1st daughters baby things thinking I will re-use them "IF" I ever have any more kids. This was done for three reasons:

1. My daughter was the first girl in the family and I had WAY too much stuff...seriously, she never wore her clothes the first year more than twice.
2. This stuff is expensive - they use it and then they outgrow it, its not like it gets worn out.
3. I'm slightly superstitious (ok, more than slightly) and I believed the minute I got rid of all of it I would get pregnant again (I wasn't ready for more kids yet)

Suffice it to say, that 5 years later I made the decision to get rid of it all and began the process of going thru it. It had been carted across 3 states and 5 homes...I had no idea what I had left...I had also slowly been giving it away to people who were having girls. One week before I was set to put it all in a yard sale, I found out I was pregnant (superstition come true or coincidence?) and I decided to keep it all a little bit longer. I mean, if I'd carted it around this long, what's the harm in a little longer?

We did one more move and I began the process of going thru it, luckily for me I was having another girl, however they were going to be in completely opposite seasons (one in May and one in December.) I meticulously sorted thru the stuff keeping what I could and giving away some, dropping some off at good will and boxing the rest up for sale. In the process, some of what I kept was for the baby when she got a little older, like 3-6 month or 6-9 months. Obviously it was all too big when she was born so I put it in a container in her closet, sure I would get to it when the time came.

Then summer came, Jr arrived, and Little Miss had her room converted from a nursery into a little boys room (with purple walls.) In came the toys, the posters and the TV - which was put in the closet on top of said boxes with stuff for Little Miss. Little Miss grew, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 months. Summer came to a close and Jr. went back home to his mother. During this time I begin the process of turning Little Misses room back into a nursery at which time I find all this stuff I had saved only to realize it is too small and now is going into the sale boxes.

Talk about feeling like a dork. I pride myself on not being a pack rat and keeping only thing necessary or of momentous value. For 6 years, however, I have carted a TON of stuff around in hopes of being able to reuse it...only to finally meet and "forget" that day was coming. On the positive side of things...there is now more for my sale pile...now, will I ever get around to selling it? Ha, probably not...good will probably won't know what to do with the stuff that has never been used and still has tags on it.

Have you ever held on to something for future use only to forget it is there?