5 realizations of prepping a garage sale

Ugh. Dagger to the heart. My boys are no longer really babies. Of course, I know they are also not grown men. Or teens. Or tweens. So I’ll cling to that, for now. But the reality is, itty bitty baby clothes are not something we need to keep around anymore. And as I went through things, I realized, I’m sort of okay with parts of that. About 6 months ago, I parted with the bulk of the boys’ preemie clothes when we found a family who would be able to use them, and that made me very content about bidding them adieu. The rest, along with a fair amount of newborn sleepers, I’d given to a local NICU {did you know that NICUs are almost always in need?}. And then, their other newborn clothes, I’ve dispersed to friends having boys… With the hopes that maybe I could see my memories on someone else, if even just for a day. And this is just our first go-round. We aren’t saying bye bye to all things baby because we have friends who still bring their kiddos around and other people in our life who may be able to give some of the things new life, once again. But as I packed up the 6 month clothing, and realized that it’s the end of that stage for us, and remembered the time B wore his hulk green casts with the navy sleeper, or J, the blue argyle sweater for his baptism, I found myself thankful for those days and for these days we have now — because these, these are much easier. 

I have ADD when it comes to buying clothing.
I might also have ADD in general. If you looked at my email inbox, it might scream:ADD. In fact, I think my Type A peeps in my life would get the heaves a little doing so. But my closet… oy… I just don’t have a clue how to shop. Do you? I got rid of about 3/4 of my clothing because it’s either the wrong size, the wrong fit, I don’t have anything to wear it with, or it’s completely strange. I don’t know what I’m thinking when I shop but I most definitely have multiple personalities regarding what I think my style is.

Stuff is just stuff. Except when it isn’t. 

Mostly, I am of the opinion that things are just things. And then, I stumble upon something that although it sits in a box somewhere, I can’t part with it. Like my pom poms from high school cheerleading. Or a baby blanket that someone made for Barrett that we never used. Sometimes things remain things. And other times, they turn into experiences, or memories. And that makes it hard to part with them, even if it makes no sense to anyone else.

We have a million times more stuff than anyone needs or wants.
Good lord, people. I know that I have 5 people living under my roof but there is just no reason that anyone needs 18 white wine glasses that have been in storage for a year or 6 race car track-type toys… there’s just so so so much stuff. And when you have little kids, the amount of stuff multiplies on the daily. They bring things home from school. They get a little toy from the doctor’s office. They get 20 gifts for every birthday party. And then, there’s your adult stuff, too. Most of the people I know have a whole lot more stuff than they could ever use or consume. But our culture keeps on perpetuating the need for things.

Garage sales are the worst.
Not like Ebola or a really bad case of poison ivy, but this I’ve decided this garage sale stuff is for the birds. I might be fine doing one that is at someone else’s pad, but having it on my home turf is just annoying. It makes sense, when you have a fair amount of inventory to part with, and some of it is stuff people might actually be able to use, you might as well try to make a buck or two off of it, but the process is just kind of crazy town. My husband is probably tired of hearing me complain about the preparations for the garage sale but jeez louise, it takes over your space like the plague. When we get ready to take stuff to goodwill, we stack it, catalogue it, and drive it over. With a garage sale, you have to hurry up and wait to get everything priced and then set up and then just pray it doesn’t rain. Seriously. This is the first time I’ve ever felt we had enough to make a g sale worth the effort… we will see what the outcome is.

So, a few furniture items. A lot of baby clothes. Some maternity and mama clothes. Some random toys. And a smattering of other household items will be gone from our lives. Soon enough {like tomorrow. And Friday. And Saturday) and hopefully, passed on to good homes. And the rest, will be hauled away for donations. And we will have our first garage sale under our belts. And maybe… our last;).

What do you think of garage sales? Love ’em? Hate ’em? Can’t live without them?