Praise for pack rats

Generally, I don’t like to collect a lot of clutter. Perhaps this is a holdover from Christmases past when my parents used to make us get rid of some of our toys to make room for the new stuff Santa would bring. Maybe it’s because our apartment doesn’t have much storage space. Or it could be work-related – my former job as a copy editor often required that I “tighten” stories to make them shorter. Now I enjoy sorting, organizing, tossing – “tightening” our possessions.

But I’m thankful that Dietrich’s grandmas – neither of whom live terribly cluttered lives – had the foresight to save a few precious things from our childhoods. Dietrich proudly wore his Daddy’s old shoes and his Uncle Sammy’s sweater and hat. And he naps in the same snuggly sack in which baby Mommy used to snooze.

It's harder and harder these days to pull that Uncle Sammy sweater over D's head. So, now that our little bug is starting to grow out of his smaller clothes, I’ll fight the instinct to "tighten," and instead enjoy saving a few favorite things that we can pass along years from now when he starts a family.