27 Dresses & 56 Gallons!

Yesterday was filled with golf for Dad and Ma-Da (Mother & Daughter) for us. After little debate the Ma-Da sisterhood went to our favorite deli for lunch and off to see "27 Dresses". We laughed, giggled, followed it up with some shopping and home for homework. Just a terrific day!

The scene with the closet bursting of tulle and taffeta brought back some fond...yet, unnerving memories for myself. Being a card carrying, charter member of the Pack Rat Society; discarding, or donating or getting rid of, or passing on, my only daughter's cute little dresses and clothes was quite difficult for me. I felt this overwhelming need to keep everything. Now, when asked, "why?"...I had no legitimate, logical or semi-intelligent answer. Just the typical response that a card carrying, charter member of the Pack Rat Society might have, "I might need it someday."

My hoarding phobia was not for every little dress...it was for whatever article of clothing she deemed her "favorite". So, this could be overalls, jammies, certain personal items (clue: days of the week), play clothes and certainly special dresses. I wanted to keep it all!!! Now as a one year old the infamous 56 gallon Rubbermaid tub is not too difficult to store...but as children do...she grew, her size grew and my ability to store multiple 56 gallon Rubbermaid tubs shrunk significantly. I felt myself adding on to my home through the PODS system. There was no way this could continue. An intervention was needed.

I remember reading a parenting magazine featuring other parents suffering from this phobia, and I decided to take their advice. "Get Rid Of It".....you will not need it....EVER! Although primitive and certainly not something I hadn't heard before...I reluctantly began to figure out a way to heed their advice. They suggested archiving it with a picture. Great idea, but not a good substitution for someone like myself who enjoys the texture and feel of fabrics and notions. I needed a little piece of the history. So, I initiated an archival meeting with my daughter (she was 5 at the time) and we began to hull down the favorites.

My answer to everything is frame it! I then found a scrapbook template for a dress and cut out one for each article of clothing she LOVED! We saved some buttons...trim...added some written history along the edge of the dress...glued them to a mat board, and archived our clothing history in frames. This became the art for her room for years. Now that she is a teenager...it is my art for years, less the fourteen 56 Gallon Rubbermaid tubs.