Sorting Clothes

So, I finally came to the realization that I need to organize Maddie's closet. There are too many things hanging in there that are now too small for her and (sadly) she will never be able to wear again. The truth is that I have multiple large, plastic containers already filled to the brim with clothes she has outgrown. Today, I emptied two of them and started making piles: the first one for my sister-in-law, and the second for my ex-nanny who is expecting a daughter next month. Mind you, I've already performed this exercise once before, to go through Maddie's newborn and 3-6 month stuff for my sister-in-law. Unfortunately, Chloe was born in the peak of summer and Maddie was born in the winter, so the seasons don't match...

Anyway, while going through Maddie's clothes, I started creating a third pile (back in the container): clothes I didn't want to give away. Every outfit I unfolded brought back a memory...Maddie used to wear this to the park...Look how faded this is now, I remember how cute it was when I first bought it...So-and-so gave us this one when we visited CA...etc., etc. Before I knew it, the container was full again, and my other two piles on the floor weren't looking too impressive.

Maddie has tons of clothes. I mean, the girl has TONS of clothes. I really should just give all of it away since it's just taking up space in the closet, and we've already taken permanent measures to ensure that we will never have another daughter (or son), but part of me cannot bear to part with all her old dresses, denim skirts, and even pajamas (geez, they're just pajamas!). My conclusion is that everyone should have at least 2 children of the same gender...that is the only way to get your money's worth out of the clothes you buy (and based on the number of outfits we're talking about, I clearly spent way too much money on Polo, Gymboree, and Baby Gap). Unfortunately for us, all we can ever do with Maddie's old stuff is give it away. Granted, I know that giving it away is good and all that, but no one else will ever appreciate each of the outfits the way I would've had I had the opportunity to clothe my 2nd, imaginary daughter in them. For me, each piece has its own unique Maddie memory attached to it, but to anyone else, it's just used and faded...hence, back they all went into the plastic container.

This brings me to pile #4: stuff that's non-gender-specific, for Nathan. Once again, a very small pile. Sadly, I realized that my HUGE son may have already outgrown some of Big Sister's old stuff that I never had the chance to re-use (not being very successful in getting my money's worth here)...and some things looked like they needed to be worn TODAY or possibly never again... For example, the Stanford t-shirt from Cathy Eemo looked like it might fit Nathan now...wasn't Maddie like 18 months when she wore it?! How is that even possible?

Nathan is going through his clothes at rapid speed. He is barely wearing things once (maybe twice) before he outgrows them. I am seriously beginning to feel like buying him anything is a waste of money. I'm already starting to accumulate piles of his stuff that he's never going to use again...and so, back to this dilemma of having to give it away or (I guess) buy more plastic containers from Target. At least Maddie's stuff is all pretty well-worn. Nathan's stuff is practically new. So, while I can't seem to give away Maddie's clothes because there are so many old memories there...I feel like I can't give away Nathan's because they're all so brand spanking new. Clearly, Maddie and Nathan are it for us...no more little kiddies...so why can't I give their clothes away? What is my problem?! Am I just going to keep accumulating more and more old baby clothes in the years to come? Is pile #3 just going to get bigger and bigger, until it's literally just ridiculous? Help~!