This summer my firstborn turned 20.
Technically he’s no longer a teen but a young adult. And his little sister is sixteen and driving now. How’d that happen so fast?!
I’m helping my young adult move into his first apartment later this month. Yup, he’s done with dorm-living at college and is movin’ on up. (Ten points to any Gen Xer who correctly identifies that reference!)
We have started gathering things he needs for his apartment (and I even wrote this list on Raising Teens Today with handy first college apartment tips). I’m looking around the house to see what things I have that I could pass on to him. I’ve found an extra sheet set and cooking utensils.
But guess what else I found when I was looking around? Turns out I’ve kept some things for years and years that he and his sister outgrew long ago. Things from the baby and toddler years. Wow!
You could argue that I’m a bad housekeeper. Ahem.
However, I’m willing to bet that many parents out there either got used to having these same things around their house or just couldn’t put them away.
My oldest may be grown up, but I still have these four items from his babyhood in my house.
The Lightening McQueen hooded towel
The Lightning McQueen hooded towel was my son’s go-to for drying off after a bath from 2006-2008. It now hangs in my garage and is the BEST towel for drying my car after a car wash.
It doesn’t leave streaks or lint and is just the right size for a towel dry.
The Infant/Toddler CPR guide
This CPR and poisoning guide has been in my kitchen rack since we moved into our current house in 2011.
I’m ready should my twenty year old and sixteen year old ever need me to consult it.
The cartoon character plate
Ah, here’s the plate my toddlers loved to eat off of, but couldn’t be put in the dishwasher. How many times did I hand wash this bad boy?
This cartoon character plate sits below all our regular salad plates and is ready for any dinner party where I might have more than 8 people attend (ha!).
Another Infant Hooded Towel
If you’re like me, when your kids were little you had a lot of hooded towels. They make great gifts, and you needed them in assorted sizes since the kids grew so quickly. The Lightning McQueen towel I mentioned above was for my son’s toddler and preschool years, but the infant towel below was when we was a wee lad.
After he (and then his sister) outgrew it, it became my go-to rag to clean my mirrors.
That sucker is awesome in attacking streaks! It doesn’t leave any lint behind either. In fact, I wish I’d kept more of these towels.
There you have it, four items from my young adult’s younger years that I still have in my house. I’m sure there are more baby items from my big kids’ childhooods if I looked harder. What about you? Is a Boo Boo Bear still in your freezer? Does a sippy cup still take up space in your cupboard?
