My Real Life

I said goodbye to an old friend, today.

It was surprisingly hard for me to do so, because I’m not a sentimental person.

Real Man has drawers full of cards that the kids and I have given him over the years.

Me?

Let’s just say that if it doesn’t have a handprint or footprint on it, anything is fair game for the trash, once it’s been oohed and aahed over for a few minutes.

But this?

This was hard.

Fourteen years ago, my friends and family held a baby shower to celebrate the impending arrival of our first baby.

At the shower, I received many, many generous items.

Tons of diapers and little, tiny onesies and socks and booties and blankets.

The actual arrival of my 9 pound 15 oz little Monkey Girl created the need to exchange many of the smallest items, but we were thrilled, nonetheless.

When I got to a package from my sister-in-law, she prefaced it with “You know how practical I am. You can’t use it now, but you’ll be happy for it in a few years.”

I opened the package and found the cutest pair of overalls, with an embroidered Winnie-the-Pooh and friends scene.

They were size 2T.

I remember laughing, thinking that I could barely even imagine a time when the little one I was expecting would fit into those overalls, but, eventually, she did

When she turned 18 months, she was already fitting into size 2T clothes, and so we pulled them out of storage and tried them on.

She loved them.

She wore the heck out of those overalls.

They became her favorite thing to wear, and they became my favorite thing to put on her.

And, too quickly, she outgrew them.

And so, we passed them on to my sister-in-law who had given birth seven months after I had.

Her little sweetie wore them, and when she, too, outgrew, she sent them back.

And eventually, Monkey in the Middle wore them, and soon thereafter, Baby Monkey had a turn.

Then, we passed them on again, and they were worn by various other nieces and nephews, and eventually, they made their way back to us.

I remember, last year, when I pulled them out, again, and put them on Tiny.

He loved them.

And so, he wore them until we just couldn’t fasten the clips any longer because he had grown far too tall, no matter how much we adjusted the straps.

Today, I packed them up and passed them on to Kim, for her little guy to wear in the near future.

And while I’m thrilled that they continue to live on and be loved and be worn, I’m sad to know that they won’t be making a return trip to my home.

They’ll move on to one of Kim’s friends or neighbors, and I’ll never see them again.

Because, it would just be weird for me to ask for them back when she’s done with them so I can save them for a grandkid.

Right?