I Won't Miss the Baby Crap

Finally, FINALLY the time has come to off load some crap.  Okay, 'crap' may be a bit strong a word but, in effect, that is what something becomes when you no longer have use for it, right?

It's been fun, but you can't stay here.

After Lukas was born Mrs. LIAYF and I knew we were going to have another child in the house at some point.  So, as he gradually grew out of, or graduated on from, certain items we (and I am talking about the 'Royal' we here since it was primarily my lovely wife) packed away in plastic bins in the basement closet or alternatively in the garage.

These baby 'things' were kind of out of the way, but in the same breath they were taking up valuable real estate. And in Seattle, real estate is at a premium.  At one point I think I even recall Zillow sending us a Zestimate of what the all that hoarded space was worth in the current market.   (Okay, that may have been a dream.)  Yet it all just sat there.  Taking up space.  Day after day, week after week.

Of course we didn't expect was that it would be over 5 years before Annabelle came along. I will admit that it WAS nice to have those tubs full of baby stuff we didn't have to buy all over again.  But when we pulled out the bins of 'gender neutral' clothes of Lukas' we had saved, we had a good laugh because it was mostly blue and green, just lighter shades.

A lot of it promptly got donated.  The rest, plus many new items, were salvaged for Annabelle.

Subsequently the months have passed, much more quickly than they did when Lukas was that age too strangely enough. And with each passing month of physical and emotional development more and more of that those baby items become baby 'crap'.

Crap that we can get rid of!!

Let me tell you, I was never happier to get rid of something as I was when that Boppy thing got donated. Oh how I loathed that semi circular puffy pink pillow.  Seriously, I have enough of a spare tire already without wrapping an extra puffy pink one around my waist in order to feed the baby a bottle. Thankfully that only happened once.  Or twice.  I'm just glad there are no photos.  At least there had better not be any (looking at Mrs. LIAYF).

The baby activity mat was another thorn in my side, which I was thrilled to see go.  Have you ever tried to store one of those for the evening, with the curved arches that make it impossible to fold up and place out of sight? The devils handiwork those things are.  I smiled the day it left the house.

We have also sold, donated to charity, or given away a ton of clothes that she has already outgrow including most of those gender neutral pieces that sat in our closet all those years.

And it is just going to get better too!  We currently have the cradle swing listed on craigslist.  I can't even remember how many times I've stubbed my toe on that cursed thing.  And the bottle warmer needs to go now too.  Now that I've used it as a prop in my Starbucks Via video.  In reality we haven't used it for months.  And we are almost done the Bumbo chair as well! - that foamy little round green mound with the tray. Unstorable!

Hasta La Vista Crap!  Heehee, I'm a bit giddy here. Yes,  I love it, love it, love it!

Sorry, I guess I got a teensy bit carried away there. Especially since Mrs. LIAYF just reminded me that we needed  the extra room for the high chair, baby walker, beaded three dimensional maze, and all the other toys we've been storing that Annabelle is finally old enough for now.

Fine.  But give it a few more months, and it will be time for all that crap to go too. I won't miss any of it.

Unfortunately, that will also mean Annabelle has grow up a bit too, which is sad.  I'll miss her being little.

She is so darn adorable right now.