Is it strange to keep everything your child has ever owned?

[mummytobabygirl2020]

Just that really. My MIL has every outfit her babies ever wore and every spoon, toy, game, bib and plate her children ever had. All their furniture too. Not sure if I should do the same with my child or just keep key items.

Not quite the same but my SIL's mother has kept every toy/game her 2 children had ever had (they are now in their 40s). It's all in their spare bedroom, and there actually isn't as much as you might think. Children of previous generations didn't have anywhere near as much as many children today have.

I've kept timeless toys that aren't likely to date and are good quality- ie wooden ones. And will keep a doll of my DDs which has lots of outfit changes but again pretty timeless. I don't keep clothes as think that's a bit odd - I had clothes from when DD was around 0-2 made into a beautiful quilt for her bed, Xmas clothes into a Xmas present sack etc.

My parents in law seem to have kept every toy and many clothes. I assume it was all in their loft. We ended up with crazy amounts of knitwear as we were given everything my husband ever wore plus the usual knitted items from older relatives made new for our babies. I find it frustrating to be honest!

@Subordinateclause yes. It's not easy... she's also so proud of it and kind of shows off about it a lot. Whatever though. There are bigger problems in life.. but it does grind on me.

@Subordinateclause you have my sympathy. She gave a bunch of clothes for Christmas for DD and I was so happy. ( new clothes ). But then as she gave it to me she said ' I expect her to be wearing these OK ? Put them on her '. Ruined the gift entirely. She gave a bunch of clothes when DD was small too and I did get her to wear them as much as possible but some were a little small and others were super hard to put on a newborn, with buttons everywhere. So she clearly thinks that I don't value the stuff she gives and don't put it on my DD enough. Anyway this is now turning into a slag off the MIL thing. Sorry !

“ Anyway this is now turning into a slag off the MIL thing. Sorry !”

What do you mean, ‘turning into’? You clearly started this thread to get people calling her things like weird and insane, and you got your wish. Musing about how maybe it’s linked to her bereavement in her 20s doesn’t make you sound any nicer, quite the opposite in fact. How would you feel if she took to the internet to slag you off for something about your life that’s unusual but harmless? Just nod and smile and accept her foibles instead of seeking out reasons to feel aggrieved by her, you have years ahead of you having to deal with her, just be pleasant.

Definitely weird. Hoarder.

Only weird if you aren't a hoarder though? Not weird to a hoarder

@MadameButterface I was actually referring to myself slagging her off. As I started to veer off topic and started talking about unrelated things entirely. I didn't mean anyone else. Chill out.

@MadameButterface that's exactly why I stopped myself ! Because it was unrelated to geh original post and just unhelpful and I turned it into something else.

@MadameButterface that's also why I said sorry ! As I was referring to myself slagging off my MIL. Not others.

I cleared out my loft recently and I found a bugaboo buggy, high chair, bags and bags of baby and children's clothes, bags of toys, boxes of school books the children bought home at the end of a school year. My eldest is 13...I have just never known what to do with it all so it gets shoved in the loft.

How big or cluttered is the house? That’s a bit creepy in my opinion, just keep a few favourites for the memory box and donate/ sell the rest.

I think it’s you that needs to chill out op it ‘ruined the gift entirely’ because she mentioned she’d like to see your dd in the outfits she bought her? Honestly you will have a much happier life if you just let all this type of thing wash over you. Your posts are all ‘whatever’ about it but you started a thread on the internet to poke fun at/slag off someone’s possible mental health problems? Are you ok?

My Mum kept lots of things and I love that she did. My dds have my old pillowcases, they wore my baby and toddler dresses, and cardigans that she had knitted for db and I. My baby plate and cup, my petticoats which were very handy as almost impossible to get for little girls now.
I have given away or sold a lot of my dds clothes due to storage space but also kept things for if they have daughters.
Maybe you would feel more sentimental about it if it was your own Mum ? I like the link from my Mum to my children, especially as she isn’t alive. Maybe your MIl feels the same ?

Yes. Totally wierd.

I can see how you could do it, especially if you didn't have loads in the first place but do have a lot of storage space.

We've only kept a few really special little bits that make us smile or that the children might find interesting, but with their artwork for example there are so many brilliant pieces that you have to be pretty brutal to thin them down.

I could easily become a hoarder out of sheer apathy by not bothering to sort things out, but we have very little storage space so have to keep on top of things.

It’s odd. The only child of my four that I have kept pretty much everything from is the one who died as a baby.

My mother kept loads of shit too.
All my high school stuff geography, history, spelling tests from primary school.
When she moved house I took great delight in stuffing it all in the recycling bin. Who wants all that crap.

I have a box that has my favourite outfits from when they were babies, and a bag of lamaze toys etc that both of them used. It took me a while to part with dd’s Moses basket but I sold that last year. As time goes on I find I can part with a bit more each time I sort it out.

I’ve kept NICU monitor wires, first shoes and first baby grow.. in a little memory box and I am the complete opposite of a hoarder so anything that isn’t used or doesn’t have a tidy place to live, goes immediately.

Oh I’ve also kept all the schools books as well - more because I don’t really know what to do with them/how long to keep them for! Long term I’m guessing I’ll sling all ds’s in the bin ,apart from perhaps reception stuff where they do lots of paintings etc, when he goes up to secondary next year.

Really weird in my opinion.

I kept some toys, mainly wooden ones as I don't trust plastic to stay safe. Several books and most of her stuffed toys. When we cleared my childhood home when my mum downsized I found that Barbies etc didn't really look good 30 years later. Only Lego seems to be standing the test of time.

We do have her first pair of shoes and some clothing items like her Brownie sash and her Pony Club Jumper with the badges, school shirt from primary school with all the signatures (they wore it over the actual shirt just for signing and therefore it didn't need a wash).

That's strange for me. I get rid of everything as soon as dc grows out of it. The only things I have ever kept is first wedding outfit (mini suit for 1 month old), first shoes that went with the suit, first onesie with cardigan when dc came out the hospital including the blanket and first toy which was a hungry caterpillar. Everything else goes to charity.

Is it a control thing? Insisting that your DD will now have to use the things that she kept.

My ex-MIL did that and was mightily offended when I said no thank you, I didn’t want a 30 year old brown corduroy pram etc 🙄 I wanted to choose my own things for my baby, ya know, the way MIL did when she had ex-DP.

If she's got a big house with lots of storage space, and the stuff isn't in the way, I can't see a problem with doing that - it's easier than having to make a decision about what to keep and what to get rid of.

I wish my mum had kept everything! It would be really interesting to see it all again.