Saving things from your child's childhood.

[USAmma]

I am in the process of decluttering. Again. I have a lot of baby things that mean something to me. Some can be passed on or sold, but a few things have been set aside for my kids for when they are older, perhaps when they have kids of their own.

What have you set aside in the baby memory box? How about a collection of things that represent the toddler/childhood years? I am looking for ideas for how to record their childhood in a creative and special way.



So far for each of my girls I have the usual hospital bands, bith notes from my records, footprints, etc. Also their cord stumps, one cloth diaper each that they wore as newborns, newborn socks, birth photos and pregnancy photos in small albums, a few special outfits, and a favorite toy each.

One day I will set aside each of their blankies. I have saved Abi's padded sling from her baby/toddlerhood, and I will save Nitara's Maya Wrap for her. It would be neat if they used them for their own babies. But if not, it's still a special momento, to show how tiny they were and how the slings held them close to my heart.

For Abi I've started a small box (about twice the size of a shoebox) for her Kindergarten work. I just throw special drawings and other things into it. I'll probably start a box for each of them at the beginning of every school year. I wish I'd saved more of her toddler artwork though.

Darshani

[HoneymoonBaby]

Sorry for the OT --I tried to PM you earlier but your box was full -- I just wanted to tell you your girls are absolutely gorgeous. Like, stunning. I clicked on their pics earlier and actually gasped.

More on-topic, I love your box idea. If I can limit the mementos to one box per year, I'll be in good shape. That helps set a guideline for me. Thanks!

-Pack Rat

[USAmma]

Originally Posted by HoneymoonBaby

Sorry for the OT --I tried to PM you earlier but your box was full -- I just wanted to tell you your girls are absolutely gorgeous. Like, stunning. I clicked on their pics earlier and actually gasped.

More on-topic, I love your box idea. If I can limit the mementos to one box per year, I'll be in good shape. That helps set a guideline for me. Thanks!

-Pack Rat

Thanks! My dh takes most of the credit, but thanks. I was going to PM you back as soon as I got my box cleaned out. I got an email saying you tried to write. Sorry!!

[meco]

Sounds like have the right idea...

I always save what means the most to me. I plan on pasting artwork in scrapbooks. I will save my slings too. And the diapers I love so they can use on their kids. A few special outfits, a few special toys...

And I have the same birth box Love your ideas!

[mamalisa]

I saved all the same baby stuff, special outfits, blankets, ect. I also saved all the cards from ds's baby shower that had personal messages in them. I think it will be nice for him to see how excited everyone was for him to arrive. Every year I also add a few ornaments to his Christmas collection. One is a picture ornament with the year and the others are something that was special to him. His 1st Christmas ornaments, a duck (age 2), an airplane (age 3) and a bunch of animals for this year. Those go with him when he gets his own home

I started a scrapbook when he was a baby, but haven't found the time in the last 3 1/2 years to work on it :

[Sofiamomma]

My saved items are similar. In our case, because their father is a donor, we have his profile, pictures from their conception parties, etc. One of dd1's preschool teacher put together a beautiful album for her. She used her artwork as background and put photos over it. The artwork was inside those plastic sleeve pages. She also wrote small notes about dd, what she liked to do, her friend's names, what was going on in the pictures, things she noticed about her artwork. It is wonderful. I really treasure it.

[philomom]

Saved two boxes of baby clothes. One folder of preschool and school stuff for each year. A handful of heirloom wooden toys and all the books.


I could never be so uncluttered that I get rid of Where The Wild Things Are and such....

[LoveBeads]

I have a memory box for DD. It has her ID bracelet from the hospital, the cards from the bouquets of flowers she received after her birth, the little hat that she wore as a newborn, some silver rattles and some letters.

The letters are ones that I write to her every year on her birthday. I'll give them to her when she is 21.

[darsmama]

I have a shoebox with:
The pregnancy tests
U/S photos
9 month pregnancy calandar
U/S video
umbillicle cord stump
planned parenthood statement of pregnancy
X-mas parade 2004 reciept
First outfit I put on her
and fave outfits I had her in.
So far thats what I have....I am writing in her "Babys First Year" Calandar currently.

[kerc]

I have a bankers box labeled something like "erin's special items"

I think inside are:
christening gown
the outfit she came home in
the two or three favorite tshirts we had for her
I'm adding her braclet from the hospital and eventually will add the baby book.

hmmm. can't think what else. I haven't totally gotten rid of the rest of the baby stuff, perhaps someday we'll have another. I have gone through and sorted by size and given away anything I didn't love the first time, was stained beyond recognition or was just plain old ratty.

[Irishmommy]

Everything. It's one area I have a hard time decluttering because I have nothing from my childhood. Though most toys and a lot of clothes I did get rid of, but I have every piece of paper they produce at school.

[Cinder]

For my dd who is 2 1/2 I have a pooh bear keep sake box. In the top portion is a copy of all of her pictures from prof. sittings, a few cd-roms with backups of all her digital pics we took, and all the negatives from the camera pictures we've taken of her, also her savings bonds, birth certificate, ss card, cards from my shower for her and from when she was born, her first holidays, her first birthday, etc. In the first drawer is a little teeny tiny 0-3lb baby diaper that she wore for the first few days (she weighed over 3lbs but had an amazingly small butt so that's what the NICU docs put on her), a preemie sized diaper, her hospital gown, her hospital t-shirt, a recieving blanket from the hospital, her hospital bracelets/anklets, the pacifier the hospital gave her, her crib cards (from the nicu and our room), basically everything the hospital gave us for her. In the second drawer is her coming home outfit, her first shoes, her first favorite toys (some little terry cloth bath tub finger puppets), her first christmas stocking, her little teeny tiny gerber 0-3lb sleepers and gowns and onesies...just cause it's unreal to look at them and thinks he ever was THAT tiny, some preemie socks...I think that's it.

For my son I just have a large hat box, it has his birth certificate, ss card, all his pictures, cd's, and negatives, coming home outfit, hospital gown/t-shirt (much less hospital stuff as he was full term and healthy with an uneventful natural labour and delivery), first pacifier, first shoes, first christmas stocking, the countdown chain dh/dd made for me when I spent 30 some days in the hospital on drugs for pre-term labour, the flower cards and "praying for you" cards I got during that hospitilization, the cards he got when he was born, for his first holidays and such...I think that's it right now...he is still in love with his first ever favorite toy (a squwish) so I haven't put that away yet.