Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The Play Room

It felt like old times. I didn't have to work at my second job today, and Maddie was at school. Nice. Really nice. Kinda what the whole Mother's Day Out is all about.

I started thinking about what I was going to do, and it hit me. We are in the process of building a house. That means packing. That means going through junk, in order to pack. That means I better get busy.

I couldn't decide what room to start in, and then I thought, What room/closet would I be most embarrassed for my mom to help me clean?

Since putting anything in Maddie's closet is an Olympic feat, that's where I started.

The top layers were pretty easy to go through. They pretty much consisted of her most recent clothes. I just set them aside to list on eBay.

It was when I got to the baby clothes, that I started having a hard time. I found the dress she wore the first time I took her to church. I found her first tennis shoes. I found her entire first year's wardrobe.

Should I get rid of this? What if she wants to know what she wore when she was a baby? What if I have another baby?

Yes. I'll show her pictures. I'm sure Target will still be around.

And, off to GoodWill went everything. Almost. I kept the dress she wore home from the hospital. I kept all of the clothes my mom made for her. That's it.

After I got all of my piles situated, guess what I found. It's been four years since I lost it. Go on. Guess. I'll wait.





THE FLOOR!! It was right where I left it.

Then, I proceeded to place Maddie's toys in it, and made her a new play area. She wasn't nearly as impressed with it as I was.

Until I gently shoved her in the closet, handed her a flashlight, shut the doors and told her to have fun.

She loved it once she figured out how to open the doors.

Who knew? I'm thinking I like the idea of her new play room. If it only had a lock.

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7 comments:

Scarlet O'Kara said...

Good for you. I kept just about everything that my 4 year old has ever worn...10 large plastic totes worth. Good thing because I am really enjoying the fact that my 5 month old can wear the same clothes and I will have wonderful memories of both of them in the same outfits!

Karen said...

Oooh, I'm loving the new play room idea. But we've filled our closets with clothes. I know, unorthodox. But we were sick and tired of dresser drawers breaking and hanging open and vomiting out clothing that we installed shelves in all the closets and everything goes in there now. No dressers in the kids rooms.

Rachel said...

Such a cute idea! Good for you :-)
I keep just the 'important' clothes. Home from the hospital,first Easter, first Christmas.. etc.
Other than that, it gets donated or handed down to friends.
Smooches.

Anonymous said...

We got back from being out of town for a few days this weekend and the kids headed straight to their toy box. Excitedly emptied it and proceeded to crawl into it with a flashlight. (Thank goodness for child-safe toy boxes). I probably could have donated all the toys away and they wouldn't have even noticed!

PS: Added this post to my shared column on my site. (Thank you Google Reader)

Anonymous said...

I'm tired just reading that post! Holy smokes. That's alot of work.

I get all sentimental too when I remember my Princess in her first little outfits. I just can't let go. We'll see if I get the courage right after our third outgrows them.

Wendi said...

Good for you, finding the floor and all! I love to clean out closets. I love to give to Goodwill or friends. That means there is less junk and less clutter in my own home. Glad you are getting a head start on the packing and cleaning.... when is your house suppose to be complete?
Good luck!

Suburban Turmoil said...

Ha ha! Speaking of playrooms, I am practically living in mine now. It's the only room in the house that's almost entirely Bruiser-proof and he plays happily in it for HOURS. Ahhh...

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