Turning the Page

When I decided a few weeks ago that it was time to get rid of our storage tub full of baby toys, I had no idea how hard the actual parting with the toys would be.  As I boxed them up this past weekend to give to some friends who are expecting their first baby, my mind was flooded with memories and my eyes with tears.  "It's just stuff," I tried to encourage myself.  But the internal reasoning continued.  "But it is special stuff that reminds me of special people and special times, and... it's okay to keep some of it."

Reassured by my own thoughts, I pulled out the five most special baby toys, and I kept them.  The rooster and the bee that went everywhere the car seat went.  The rattle that all of my children held first.  The teething ring that was a favorite to all of them.  And the keys that I loved as much as they did.

2-month old Abel holding rattle for the first time

5-month old Abel and his rooster

8-month old Abel and "Mr. Bee"

2-month old Amariah holding rattle for the first time

3 1/2-month old Isabel holding rattle for the first time

3 1/2-month old Elliana holding (a different) rattle for the first time (because Isabel had the other one :-))

These well-loved items are far more to me than toys, you see.  They are mementos of times I can never get back--of the infancies of Abel, Amariah, Isabel, and Elliana,.. and of the opening of a chapter in my life which seemed to be finally closing with the giving away of their counterparts.

With a heart full of memories (and a handful of toys), we continue to move beyond the pages of babydom and into the many exciting chapters that lie ahead.  Indeed, though this first chapter may be complete (or so we suppose), the book of Parenthood is far from over!

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