Stuff

“A place for everything and everything in its place.” Yep – that’s how I used to live my life.

And then we had kids.

Kids come with a lot of stuff. The amount of stuff that we have in our house doubled when Addy came into our lives and tripled with Kennedy. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a little. But just a little. (And here I was so super excited that having a second girl meant that we wouldn’t need anything more than what we already had.)

I’m not really sure why it’s this way. I’ve been assured that my favorite toys were measuring cups out of the kitchen drawers. My Mom tells me that the day before my parents brought me home from the hospital, my Dad went to the store to buy diapers, blankets and a couple outfits for me – that’s all. I have friends who slept in dresser drawers as babies because their parents didn’t have cribs. Hardly ‘stuff magnets’ there.

But that doesn't seem to be the way it is anymore – we’re not alone with our piles of stuff. Though we’re far far far from the most kid-accessory-stuffed houses (believe me, I know).

So anyway, the days of places for everything in our house are probably gone (at least for a little while) – and even if there were places for everything, Addy might very well see to move things right after they had been placed. So it goes.

We’ve been in a state of upheaval the past week as we move a couple rooms around in our house and along with that we’ve been finding things that we don’t really have homes for and even more so, we’re finding things that we don’t need. (We’re even finding some things that we had forgotten we had – gulp!). So we’re taking this opportunity to de-stuff our house. Salvation Army made a large pick up this morning and the trash at the curb is overflowing as well. That was already a goal for this year – clean up and clean out. So I guess it’s all fitting in with our grand plan.

The things that we’re cleaning out now are all pre-kid. And though we’re getting close to being able to move some of the larger baby things out of our house (the swing, the activity center), we’re not really quite there yet. We moved some of the baby toys out of our storage closet last night for the last time though, because once Kennedy is done with them, they will be going to another home where they will be loved space-taker-uppers for another kid and another family. Yes it’s exciting for Kennedy to get to use them. But I’d be lying if I said that (on some level at least) I’m not excited about getting rid of them too. (And yes, I realize I say all this with a wish list on amazon.com for the girls that has many many more items on it than they will ever need. The brain is not always a rational thing.) =)

Anyway, with the ‘clean up, clean out’ thought in mind, I headed to the playroom last night after the house was quiet thinking that there might be some smaller things that I could add to the Goodwill pile. Things that Addy doesn’t play with – things that Kennedy would never miss. I walked into the playroom that had just recently been picked up (there are things without places though) and it was then that I realized that, it’s full of stuff, but it’s also full of laughter, smiles and squeals of delight. The toys will, of course, come and go and they’re definitely not what make the memories, but right now – they’re the flotsam and jetsam of childhood. Of our little baby girls, who, though may always be our baby girls in our hearts, won’t be babies once we blink.

I’m not a Mom who wants to keep our kids babies. I’m a cheerleader when Addison and Kennedy do things that show that they are growing and learning – I love those moments. Of course, I will always cherish their baby moments and will always remember the way that they felt in my arms as they came into this world, but I’m also very excited to see them come into their own and leave their imprints on the world.

But they don’t have to grow up too quickly either. So the play room stayed as it was last night. Awaiting more laughs, smiles and squeals.

We’ll leave cleaning out for another day.