Confessions of a "Hoarder Mom"

I have slowly but surely been cleaning out stuff for a garage sale with some of my neighbor friends and wow! Where does all of this unnecessary junk come from anyway? One of my oldest and dearest friends moved back to town last weekend and we were discussing this fact and the television show, "Hoarders," shown on A & E. He expressed his love for collecting kitchenware and it made me think. Although there is certainly no comparison between us and what you see on the show, it can be rather surprising to examine your own accumulation. Keep, sell, donate, or toss? On the other hand, I can understand how people become attached to "things."
I could easily be charged with hoarding when it comes to my children's artwork. Yes, darling college daughter of mine, we still have your preschool handprints! How could I ever part with those? Irreplaceable! In fact, I could actually be (charged and) convicted of hoarding many things from their younger days. Pageant dresses and christening gowns hang in plastic in closets. Tiny baby clothes and caps remain packed in plastic boxes...only the special ones! Softball and baseball gloves, helmets, and bats hang inside bags in the garage. Ballet slippers are in the dresser drawer. Precious, snuggly blankets are still folded in the linen closet. Shamefully, I have to admit that many of my daughter's childhood dolls also made the cut. Each one did have a name, you know...baby Christy and baby Lisa, oh well. You get the picture. If I didn't hoard these things, there would be no purpose for the attic anyway.
I have given up the perfume bottles that I collected just because they were pretty. I got rid of the baskets that were once everywhere in my house! I even put away the old metal tins from my step-mom's kitchen that I found so charming. I draw the line at the children's things, however. These things equal memories of babies who grew up much faster than I could have ever imagined, thank you. It would be hard to part with them, especially for a stranger's nickels and dimes or even as a donation to an unknown someone. So I just keep them. Looking through them every once in awhile seems to rewind time, if just for that moment and makes me smile.
Cleaning out twice a year and choosing the sell, donate, or toss options really help me to de-clutter and simplify. I even found the camera charger which had been lost since last Spring this time as well. As for those blue softball cleats over there...no way! Don't you know they belonged to my daughter when she played ball? Let me tell you about the time she nearly pitched a no-hitter...