Why do little people need so MUCH stuff?

We recently bought a new house (well a 50 year old house, but new to us) and have finally retrieved all the CRAP that was in the old house's garage - you know the stuff that you didn't even remember you had and had already blocked out of your memory.

I'm sorry I should have introduced myself. I'm Sheila and have two kids - a joyful, spunky daughter Kiley (3) and a tae-kwon do fighter, Caden (6). We watch cartoons and our favorite for some random reason these days is "Xiaolin Showdown" - hence my screen name. Please be clear we don't watch it for its vast educational value - but rather the cool karate moves that we can practice on each other. It's nice after a long day at work to watch my three year old attempt a flying kick into the couch:) better than into her brother. I digress.

Regardless, we finally cleared the old house of all the old stuff and have brought it to the new house. As I look at the piles of stuff that have overtaken my backyard. I am seriously floored and disgusted by the amount of BABY stuff that we have. I mean the baby bouncer, the crib that I HAD to have, the extra firm mattress, the baby saucer, the boppy and of course, the jogger I used everyday. This is in addition to the boxes of baby rattles, squeeze toys and old bottles. What to do with this pile of stuff - our ode to babyhood??

We're in that strange place of hmmm... should we have another child and if so, we might need this all. Or maybe we should find a pregnant friend or donate it all to a local charity now and if we have another babe then we go out and beg our friends for their used stuff. Either way, when you see it all it is certainly astounding to think that something that comes out at 8 pounds could need so much. My husband and I joke that the next time around, we'll give her an empty box to play with or will dress in diapers and onsies only for the first 6 months, who cares if its cold - we have a ton of baby blankets anyway.

Moving is good and cathartic and forces the purge of all the old stuff. It also makes you nostalgic and reminds you of when they were tiny and smelled like baby shampoo. It takes you back to the only bib your oldest would wear and the cute pink sweaters that were handknit by their auntie. (Yes, I have a few boxes of things I WILL not part with. You know my grandchildren want to wear their mama's clothes!) As much as I lament about all the crap - I also have shed quite a few tears, thinking about just how darn cute they were/are and how much those little bundles of joy really did bring a whole new perspective to me and the way I see and operate in the world.

XiaolinMama's wisdom for the day: I've noticed that the older they get the smaller their toys are or maybe I'm less permissive about what they can buy. We've instilled the buy one toy - get rid of one rule. (This rule is usually ignored during Xmas and birthdays of course. You can't win 'em all.)