Sentimental Things- What Do You Keep ?

I'm a bit sentimental, but also a neat freak. I keep the video storage boxes (shoebox size) of things like you mentioned for me and hubby and each child. Then I've got art collections going for each kid--folders of flat art and a couple of 3d pieces. I try to get my daughter to let go of those, but she's really attached. A great idea I wish I'd done from the beginning--photograph them and keep them digitally.

I keep special outfits, a box for each kid (my dad's wife smocks them an outfit each year, for example). I have a hard time letting go of their baby stuff, but if I give things to friends or a really special cause then I find it helps.

Good luck! and have fun!

I am not good at keeping much at all, but I always wished my mom had kept something from my childhood. So I have one box, and I kept things like you mentioned in it. Once the box was full, I was done. That way I didn't go overboard. I hope this helps.

I save favorites. Period.

((I also shoot about 10,000 pics a year... and oy... don't even get me started THERE. Switching to a mac actually means about 300 hours worth of work in front of me with those photos. Worth it though.))

I also have a great big plastic box in the basement that my favs of his old clothes go, that I'm not saving to pass on (because of course clothes get separated into 4 piles: rags, donate, keep to pass on, & favs). When kiddo is grown, and off on his own, & I'm empty nesting I'll turn those clothes into a memory quilt.

I have a few memory boxes. In my babies I have the newspaper for that day, cards etc. All the normal things. Where my problem came in was her clothes. Some i could care less about, but this was the first grandchild on both sides. So I got a lot of cute "first" dresses. First christmas, first formal picture dress, etc. Then on top of that she just had a ton of really cute outfits that I loved and din't want to give to goodwill. Well if you run into this problem once you have her, here is what I am doing. Some dresses I am just keeping for her when she gets older to make the decision, and some, that I think are too adorable I put in a shadowbox picture frame and hung it on the wall. I only did one and I am deciding on how many I want. Obviously not too many. So all the cute outfits, where or where do they go? Well, I have about three huge trashbags full of them. They wil be cut appropriately and made into a quilt for when she gets older. That way I can get away with saving them, and finding a use for them! once they are cut they wont take up too much space. The home made things I save to stay in the family. Good luck and have fun!

I don't have memory boxes, but as Sydney's first birthday approached, I made her a quilt out of some of my favorite clothing of hers. While I would not do that with the dress you're describing, I have a good suggestion for that. Have the dress framed, with the shoes, so you can hang it and keep it.
It is so easy to be sentimental with things that we get for our babies, especially if they are one of a kind. I would say to keep what your heart really speaks to you about. Especially the one of a kind, handmade things. You won't get those back, and often, they are priceless.
We also named some of the baby items we got that were hand made so we could always remember who gave them to us. For example, we have Casey Blanket, Madeline Blanket, etc.

The clothing is hard to part with at first, but as your kids grow the baby clothes become less important and I found it was easier to part with. I have a plastic box for each child and that is more than enough space. You also might find that the ticket stubs and other stuff between you and your husband becomes less important over time. What you find at some point (especially with kids) is that you have some much stuff - toys, clothes, etc. that you start appreciating the feeling of not have clutter so you get more ruthless about purging. If you just having your first child you won't be ready to let go of stuff for quite a few years.

He heheheheh yep. We all do this to some degree or another. We were "given" a "time capsule" from the hospital with each of our babies. A metal tin about a foot tall, that I stuck the things I really wanted to keep inside. Their ultrasound photos, the bloody knit hat from the hospital (ewwww), hospital bracelets, first paci, newspaper from the day they were born, etc...

Then it tapers down until they learn to write and start school and it becomes an even bigger problem....they are ALWAYS bringing home loads of papers and artwork.... lol. Or writing notes to me or each other. Or writing stories and illustrating their idea of a comic book. They'll also have report cards, progress reports, Honor Roll certificates, standardized testing scores/results, project notebooks, science projects/boards, and on and on and on....
What helped me get through the first few years of school, was just putting EVERYTHING they brought home in one container until the end of the year.. then sort through it and pick out the things most representative of their work as it progressed and matured. Also, take photos of things....

I gave away TONS of clothing... but kept out just a few items that were special to me for each child. (My son's first shoes and the onesie my husband first put on him and brought him home from the hospital in, my daughter's first Easter Dress, etc).

Hi i'm a mom of 4 girls ages 12,9,5 and almost 1 . And i have made baby boxes for all of them . Including a couple outfits toys places we went or anything speical . Also i took pictures of them in outfits i couldn't keep. Scrapbooking is a special way to keep those memories.

I keep/kept (we're prego with #3 now so...) special outfits, first shoes, first hair cut, first teeth, their umbilical cord stubs (creepy I know), their hospital cap, mother's day cards, cute pictures they make, etc. I think all moms do this. No worries.

i kept my daughters first christmas dress. i kept both of my kids hats from the hospital, their armbands from the hospital as well as mine. i'm the type of person who doesn't really believe that items are sentimental but the memories are. i pass on the clothes to family members so that way they are used well and i've also donated toys and clothes to a local childrens home.

Nope you're not crazy. I would keep special outfits, the first pair of shoes, et. Heck my mom still has all my baby teeth and a lock of my hair from my first hair cut. She also kept all of my report cards and some of my school work from the first few years of school. Keep things that are important to you. There will be a lot of stuff you'll give away but there will always be things you'll want to keep.
Just as a note, when I turned 18 my mother gave me my report cards and stuff for my birthday. It was her way of saying 'congrats you're an adult now".
Hope that helps!

My MIL passed away last year at age 99. I don't think she'd thrown anything away in 99 years....
Among the things I found: Original receipts for her gas, electric and rent deposits, from when she got her apartment in Washington, DC, in1939, when she went to work for the War Department. Canceled checks from 1939....as well as almost every other year since then...LOL! Lots of newspaper clippings from the 1940's, on up til recent years. She had saved the center pull out section of the Tampa Tribune, advertising Disney World's original grand opening...(what's that been about 40 years??) She used to collect stamps, and I swear she kept every single letter she ever received in her life. My husband is now 65....we found all of his baby shoes, from infant until he was probably 3-4. They were all white leather back in those days, oh plus his first pair was bronzed. Plus some of his little baby outfits.

So no, you're not crazy. Many people save special items like you mentioned. They don't have to take up a lot of room, or add to your clutter. Set up a special box or container of some sort, or even a designated dresser drawer. (That's where I found a lot of the baby stuff) Space Bags might be a good choice, as that will keep them very well protected from moisture, humidity, dirt and bugs. Once you use your vac to suck the air out of it, it will become pretty flat and won't take up hardly any space at all, and you can even store them out in the garage or someplace like that, and they're fully protected.
So enjoy your new baby, and don't hesitate to keep all those special items.

Hmmm...my son's memory box consists of all the accoutrements he had when we took him home from the hospital...wrist i.d. band, name tag (from his bassinet), umbilical cord clip (I know...ew), cap etc. I cut out his 'If you were born on this day' horoscope from the newspapers and a few cartoons from the day he was born that coinidentally had to do w/ babies. The outfit we brought him home in and a couple of other infant outfits I especially love. A clay hand print from when he was 6 months. Lock of hair from first haircut...his rattle.
He's 8 now...I have all his baby teeth he's lost so far (probably another 'ew'). I also keep some of his school papers and art work...though I try not to go overboard on that as there's so much.

No, not crazy at all...we love our kids and heck, babyhood and childhood are fleeting. ;)

I bought a "Through the Years" memory book and love how easy it is to keep important school memories. In addition, the kids answered questions about who their friends were, what they want to be when they grow up and their signature. Clothing wise, I kept a few of the outfits that professional photos were taken in. My mom did that and all of the sisters, daughters, and nieces have had their photo taken in the same handmade dress my mom made, now worn through at the elbows. I wrote on the back of a lot of the elementary work that came home the kids comments. "Tell me about this or that" it was amazing what the concept was for a simple flower. "this is a girl with cavaties" etc. Many years in school they kept a daily journal - I kept all of those. A few notes from girlfriends or boyfriends are tucked away as well. Very funny stuff and they love to go through it now that they are older.

I keep a lot of things from my kids throughout the school year. At the end I weed them out again and save a little from each grade. My mom did that and it was fun to look at my drawings and writings. I tossed mine out. I also have scrap books for my kids so I take pictures too. If I kept everything they did in school I could start a fire. So instead I keep what looks important to me. They have baby books and memory boxes of their first outfit home from the hospital and hospital bands, spoons. But again, I have to go back though things as they get older and "weed" out stuff to make room. Hope I can make it till high school LOL. Good luck!

I have saved all of her first holiday outfits. I also saved her first pair of walking shoes (to later get bronzed). I also saved her cards that she got the first year and I save her birthday cards. I bought this book that has pockets and you write all the special things about each birthday. I know that you want to save everything but you just can't. I also saved he baptism dress that I want to get preserved. I would save the outfit that your MIL made. That would make a great heirloom to pass on to your daughter when she becomes a mom. I try to save the MOST important things especially the first year stuff. As of right now I am saving all the clothes in case we have another baby. If it is a boy or we don't have anymore children I will get rid of everything. Good luck to you.