This morning I had one of those "if you give a mouse a cookie" moments. I started out, taking papers to the computer, but something needed to go upstairs. When I got there, I saw that my suitcase was still unpacked, so I started to put away the clothes that were still clean. When I opened my schrank, I decided that I needed to go through my clothes and pull out things I don't wear. When I looked at my top shelf (which has been bothering me for a while) and where I keep all things "sentimental", I decided to organize it.
And that's where my story begins.
Over the years, I've tried really hard to donate clothes that my kids outgrow. However, there are always a few things that mean too much to me, and so I keep them. I'm not any kind of hoarder--I have just a few things from each child. However, it was good for me today to see some of the things I have saved from the life of Glo.
I love the things in this picture. All of them are from Glo's childhood. Let me explain why:
1. See the blue shirt with the faint design on it? If you look closely, Thing One and Thing Two are embroidered on the front. Glo's sleeping companion from early on has been a stuffed Thing Two, given to her by Aunt Mary who ordered it from the back of a cereal box. Her Thing Two actually has a belly that can be pressed and which makes a squeaking sound, so from the beginning, he's been affectionately called "Squeakie". This shirt is so tiny, and it reminded me of Little Glo who coincidentally still sleeps with Squeakie every night.
2. Glo loved horses when she was little. Everything was about horses. She had pictures of horses hanging on the walls of her bedroom, and just about everything she wore had horses on it. I have saved the shirt and the sweater, because they have horses on them, but also because I bought both of them in Ireland. In fact, the sweater is from Avoca which still happens to be my favorite knitwear company. Even today, I couldn't put them in the donation pile.
3. The hats. Oh my goodness, I didn't realize until I saw these that Glo has always worn hats. She still wears hats now. But these hats were her first, and she wore them everyday. When she was little, she had a hard time keeping her hair out of her face, because as it turns out, the hair on the top of her head grows towards her forehead. To this day, she still struggles to keep the hair out of her face. I originally bought one of these hats just to keep her head warm on cold German winter days, but she started not taking it off at school. And despite the "no hat" policy at school, her teachers kindly let her keep it on. Since I thought we should shake up the look occasionally, I ended up buying her two more. I can still remember spraying the hats with Static Guard in the morning, because the fleece fabric would do a number on her static-prone hair if she happened to take it off.
4. The galaxy explorer shirt. It wasn't until we moved to Pennsylvania that I started to realize that Glo was not a girly girl. She wanted to hang with the boys and do boy things. That sounds terribly backwards, seeing as I teach my girls that they can do anything they want to do in life, but you just don't see many girls in any STEM areas. She wanted to go to a local space camp which she did, and surprise, surprise, she was one of the only girls attending. And it came as no surprise when Glo received her patriarchal blessing and was told, "During pre-mortal times, you understood many of the mysteries of creation, the working of universes." I realized then that Glo had some unique interests.
5. I love the Hanna Andersson clothes in the top right of the picture. Glo wore those clothes until (maybe) three years ago. She was still finding her style, and this was probably the last time that I had much say in any of it. She wore those clothes into the ground, but amazingly enough (and props to the company) they still look brand new. I sold nearly all of them to some neighbors, but I couldn't let go of these three things. I have pictures of her riding her bike around Interlochen in them.
This might not seem like much, but when I pulled those hats out of my schrank, I was reduced to tears.
Life with Glo over the last few years hasn't been the easiest. Honestly, I don't think much of it has to do with her. I think it has to do with me. I frequently expect her to be like her older siblings who have always been eager to please, but she's not. I expect her to like the same things I do and that they did, but she doesn't always. And when I see her reacting to situations in much the same way I do (for the worse), I feel frustrated with her, because I want her to be better than me.
However, as I pulled each of these items off the shelf, I was reminded of a time when Glo was my best little friend. She was "the baby" to all of us. She was cute as a button, and for a brief moment, I missed that darling girl.
But I see now that the spunk that was so cute to witness has turned into dogged determination. Her "friend to all" attitude has led to her having the courage to choose only the best of people to be her friends now. Her cute-but-deep thoughts as a child have led to her being a diligent journal keeper. And her interests in things that don't interest me have enriched my own life and opened up new worlds to me.
There were things on that shelf from all of my children, and I was once again reminded how blessed I have been to have the family that I have. John and I both feel sad that we are at least halfway done with our lives at this point. It's been such a fun and tender adventure so far, and we aren't quite ready for it to end. However, as Glo gets ready to go off to college in a year, we are definitely closing a chapter on our lives. Thankfully, I have a few hats to remind me forever of that sweet time.
And that's where my story begins.
Over the years, I've tried really hard to donate clothes that my kids outgrow. However, there are always a few things that mean too much to me, and so I keep them. I'm not any kind of hoarder--I have just a few things from each child. However, it was good for me today to see some of the things I have saved from the life of Glo.
I love the things in this picture. All of them are from Glo's childhood. Let me explain why:
1. See the blue shirt with the faint design on it? If you look closely, Thing One and Thing Two are embroidered on the front. Glo's sleeping companion from early on has been a stuffed Thing Two, given to her by Aunt Mary who ordered it from the back of a cereal box. Her Thing Two actually has a belly that can be pressed and which makes a squeaking sound, so from the beginning, he's been affectionately called "Squeakie". This shirt is so tiny, and it reminded me of Little Glo who coincidentally still sleeps with Squeakie every night.
2. Glo loved horses when she was little. Everything was about horses. She had pictures of horses hanging on the walls of her bedroom, and just about everything she wore had horses on it. I have saved the shirt and the sweater, because they have horses on them, but also because I bought both of them in Ireland. In fact, the sweater is from Avoca which still happens to be my favorite knitwear company. Even today, I couldn't put them in the donation pile.
3. The hats. Oh my goodness, I didn't realize until I saw these that Glo has always worn hats. She still wears hats now. But these hats were her first, and she wore them everyday. When she was little, she had a hard time keeping her hair out of her face, because as it turns out, the hair on the top of her head grows towards her forehead. To this day, she still struggles to keep the hair out of her face. I originally bought one of these hats just to keep her head warm on cold German winter days, but she started not taking it off at school. And despite the "no hat" policy at school, her teachers kindly let her keep it on. Since I thought we should shake up the look occasionally, I ended up buying her two more. I can still remember spraying the hats with Static Guard in the morning, because the fleece fabric would do a number on her static-prone hair if she happened to take it off.
4. The galaxy explorer shirt. It wasn't until we moved to Pennsylvania that I started to realize that Glo was not a girly girl. She wanted to hang with the boys and do boy things. That sounds terribly backwards, seeing as I teach my girls that they can do anything they want to do in life, but you just don't see many girls in any STEM areas. She wanted to go to a local space camp which she did, and surprise, surprise, she was one of the only girls attending. And it came as no surprise when Glo received her patriarchal blessing and was told, "During pre-mortal times, you understood many of the mysteries of creation, the working of universes." I realized then that Glo had some unique interests.
5. I love the Hanna Andersson clothes in the top right of the picture. Glo wore those clothes until (maybe) three years ago. She was still finding her style, and this was probably the last time that I had much say in any of it. She wore those clothes into the ground, but amazingly enough (and props to the company) they still look brand new. I sold nearly all of them to some neighbors, but I couldn't let go of these three things. I have pictures of her riding her bike around Interlochen in them.
This might not seem like much, but when I pulled those hats out of my schrank, I was reduced to tears.
Life with Glo over the last few years hasn't been the easiest. Honestly, I don't think much of it has to do with her. I think it has to do with me. I frequently expect her to be like her older siblings who have always been eager to please, but she's not. I expect her to like the same things I do and that they did, but she doesn't always. And when I see her reacting to situations in much the same way I do (for the worse), I feel frustrated with her, because I want her to be better than me.
However, as I pulled each of these items off the shelf, I was reminded of a time when Glo was my best little friend. She was "the baby" to all of us. She was cute as a button, and for a brief moment, I missed that darling girl.
But I see now that the spunk that was so cute to witness has turned into dogged determination. Her "friend to all" attitude has led to her having the courage to choose only the best of people to be her friends now. Her cute-but-deep thoughts as a child have led to her being a diligent journal keeper. And her interests in things that don't interest me have enriched my own life and opened up new worlds to me.
There were things on that shelf from all of my children, and I was once again reminded how blessed I have been to have the family that I have. John and I both feel sad that we are at least halfway done with our lives at this point. It's been such a fun and tender adventure so far, and we aren't quite ready for it to end. However, as Glo gets ready to go off to college in a year, we are definitely closing a chapter on our lives. Thankfully, I have a few hats to remind me forever of that sweet time.
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