We have been preparing our upstairs for new carpeting. What a chore! Everything must come out of the closets, out from under the beds, and out of the dressers so that the installers will have an easier time moving the heavy furniture. Everything must go into boxes, packed away and labeled by room, as if we are moving to another house.

One good thing about all this work is that it gives us the chance to go through our things and get rid of what we don’t need or use. Over a 16 year period (that’s how long we have lived in this house, and how old our carpet is!) we have managed to collect a bunch of junk we don’t even need. I have been clearing away so much clutter. It feels good to purge! 

Aiden, however, is having a hard time with this. He’s a very reluctant purger. Unless something is broken, he won’t let me put it in the Goodwill pile. “No, not this toy! I still play with this toy! Don’t give it to Goodwill!” Every now and then he will hand me a broken toy and say, “Here, mom. You can put this into the Badwill pile.”  — he thinks that good things go into the Goodwill pile, so naturally anything that’s unwanted or broken should go into the Badwill pile. The kid cracks me up!

It’s not any easier with his clothing, either.  I was going through his outgrown clothes and everything I pulled aside he said, “No! Not this! This is my favorite!”

When I got to his first Christmas outfit, he quickly grabbed it from me and said, “Not my Santa suit! This still fits me!”

That did it. I was losing my patience, and he was being ridiculous. 

I said, “No, it doesn’t! You wore that when you were six months old. You are four and a half now. Trust me, it doesn’t fit.”

“Yes, it does!!!” he insisted.

“No, it doesn’t!”

“YES!!”  he said, and then he ran out of the room with the outfit gripped tightly in his hand.

Glad to finally be left alone, I resumed going through his clothing and enjoyed my uninterrupted purging.  About 15 minutes later, Aiden came back into my room.

“See!! See mom! It still fits me!!” he said, proudly.

Oh my gosh, I was laughing. I’ve got to give the kid credit. It took him over 15 minutes to squeeze himself into that outfit. He was determined.

I said, “You are right. It does fit you! But isn’t that uncomfortable? Isn’t it too tight?”

“No, it’s not. I like it. It’s my favorite.” he said, and ran off again. He wore that thing the rest of the day. Luckily we didn’t go anywhere so he wasn’t seen in the outside world.

He insists that he “remembers” wearing that outfit when he was a baby, but of course he just knows it from the photos. No matter. I can’t get rid of it now. I will keep this outfit and pack it away in his keepsakes. But not so much for the memory of his first Christmas, but more for the memory of when he was four and squeezed himself into it. I think I enjoyed it more when he wore it at age four.

And from now on, I’m waiting until he’s asleep before I try to get rid of his unused toys and outgrown clothing. Who knew he’d be so sentimental?