Originally Posted by
ShirlinAZ
I was once young and dumb and felt the same way. Then I grew up and realized that a home needed to be warm with personal things, not cold like a magazine picture. Perhaps this young mother will some day grow up and regret letting go of the personal things.
Fortunately I was sentimental and just kept the personal things in a closet until I realized their worth.
I, too, have gotten rid of things I'd give anything to have back. When I was a child we lived in a very small house with no storage space and my mother encouraged me, I think, to pass things on that I'd outgrown or didn't use anymore. She was especially big on passing on toys, as she did my clothing, to younger cousins. During this time my paternal grandmother made and sold boy and girl cloth dolls. She dyed the body fabric herself, sewed and stuffed the figures and dressed the girl doll in a ruffled gingham dress with a white pinafore, and the boy doll in striped overalls, and a gingham shirt, all of which were handmade, of course. She embrodiered the faces and made the hair from yarn. She was an excellent seamstress and the dolls were beautifully and perfectly made. She let me choose which I wanted and I chose one of the boy dolls (premonition? I'm the mother of three sons!) I loved the doll and played with and admired it. But eventually I outgrew dolls and was encouraged (and was willing) to give it away to a younger cousin who still played with dolls. Now that I'm grown (more than grown!) and sew myself, I'd give anything to still have that beautiful doll completely handmade by my grandmother.
So now, of course, I keep too much of everything. Whoever said it's all about timing was absolutely right.