Being a Mom: Holding Onto and Organizing Baby Keepsakes

What Baby Stuff and Memories Does One Store Forever?


Ever since my daughter was born, 20 months ago, I have been storing nearly every single thing that she does and says and uses. The “does” and “says” keepsakes go into her Baby Book while the “uses” go into a carton, labeled, “Keepsakes”.

Now I know that for me, her mother, her tiny first jumper and body suit are precious, but while I was going through all the stuff lately, I realized, “Will she really care about this chocolate-stained pink bib from her trip to the Mall?” Wouldn’t it be better for me to sort through all the baby stuff and simply keep those that have a memory attached to them. For instance, her first pair of Baby Wrangler jeans or her first bib, instead of holding on to all the jeans and nearly, all the bibs.

So, I spent some time sorting and organizing all my little one’s keepsakes into neat, labeled categories – First clothes, First gifts, First Toys and so on. The stuff I decided to let go off went to the little children who live in the slums in this area. They really need those clothes and blankets way more than I do.

I know I will keep adding to my Baby Memory Box since babies create memories everyday and not everything will be a “First”, so what I’m planning to do is add little notes to the things I do keep, detailing the particular memory associated with it or why I’ve held on to them.

And then, one day when the 20-month old toddler is a 20-year-old young girl, we can both go through these things and laugh and cry over them! I’ve also described a few other ways to organize keepsakes in this article. Hope you find it helpful!

So, calling all mamas! How do you organize your baby’s keepsakes? What do you hold onto and what do you let go off? How do you decide?

Photo courtesy: flickr.com/mightyohm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyohm/3095846081/