The Saturday Seven - #17 & 18

Maybe I'm getting more strict with myself about getting rid of sentimental things. It's not that it is getting any easier. I just seem more able to do it. It is a good reminder to me that simplicity is not something that just comes naturally, at least not to me. It happens through choice, action, discipline.

I started off this week with a simple enough giving. When my new jacket finally arrived in the mail, I donated my old peacoat to our church's Vespers program (a ministry to the homeless and hungry; among other things, the ministry takes winter clothes donations to help those on the street keep warm). Then when I got a new cardigan for my trip, I donated an old cardigan that I haven't worn in years, to the Vesper's program as well. This would be a good habit for me - buy one thing, let go of one thing.

Late in the week, I also offered up two pairs of jeans on freecycle. The jeans are in great shape - just bought last summer - but since spring they have been too big because I've continued to lose weight. This is a happy type of giving away!

But then today was the toughy. I packed up a box of extremely precious baby clothes and sent them to My Old Man's daughter for her 3 month-old baby boy. Some of these were clothes that I had not previously been able to part with.

Like this yellow sleepsack that Tiny Dancer slept in
every night for the first several months of his life.
(Little Buddha didn't wear one until he quit co-sleeping at 11 months).

And this little fleece yellow sleeper.
It was hard to give away for a different reason than the sleepsack.
My mother sent two of these to me when I was 6 months pregnant. They were sized 6-9 months, but I didn't realize they ran really small until I tried them on the boys at 7 months. Tiny Dancer only wore his once, in this picture with my father. Little Buddha never wore his because it was too small. :(

I can still remember receiving the gift basket of baby clothes my mom had delivered to me while I was pregnant. I can remember holding these little sleepers up and imagining my little boys in them. It is so sad to me that they never even wore them.

There were other things in the box I sent that had also been unworn or worn very little. I was so confused in the beginning about things that were labelled "6M" - I thought that meant they would fit at 6 months, not that they would fit starting at 3 months until maybe 6 months.

Anyway, the box included 13 things. So those plus the jeans, the jacket, and the cardigan brings this week's total to 17. That's good because I needed to double-up this week and next since I'll then be in Italy for 2 1/2 weeks (and won't be doing the Seven Things then!).

Total things gone so far: 153.