The Clothes That Make the Man Cry

There are some things I hate about being a stay at home dad.  Organizing just happens to be one of them, and it's not for the reasons you might think.

Today I decided that I needed to move out all of the old clothes in Carter's closet.  A lot of these clothes have been with us since Tyler was his age, which means they have been with us for almost five years.  As you can imagine, there are a lot of memories wrapped up in these old duds, and since Carter is most likely our last child, these clothes will never be seen again.

Part of what I struggle with now is the fact that HE WILL be our last kid.  When my wife and I first decided to have kids we always assumed that we would have three.  We each come from families of five so it would only make sense that we would continue that trend.  But Carter is five now and the idea of adding another child to the mix some six years after giving birth to him just doesn't see likely.  A family of four works just works for right now, and it looks as though life will move forward the way it is.

Which brings me today and putting the clothes away.  

There are a lot of memories here in this closet.  With every shirt I can picture a different part of our lives, whether it was trips that we have made or weekends that we have spent as a family.  Some of them haven't been worn in years, and part of the reason is that I just wasn't ready to close that chapter of my life.  Once they go into storage, that's it, five years packed away, just like that.

This was Tyler's shirt.  He wore it everywhere.  I can remember him wearing it to Niagara Falls and Disney World just to name a couple of  places, but the place I remember it most is Point Pleasant Beach and his second birthday.  Tyler turns eight in a little over a month, but this shirts reminds me of that little diaper wearing kid walking on the beach almost six years ago.  It really is unbelievable to me how quickly that time has gone.  

Then there is Carter.  This was his fancy shirt for almost four years.  Yeah I know it's ridiculous that he could wear the same shirt for that long, but when he first started wearing it around his first birthday it was pretty big on him.  Since he is smaller than most kids his age it still fit him when he decided himself to wear it this past Thanksgiving.  This shirt has been all over the world including trips to France and Italy.  Quick side note, Carter thinks that any shirt with a button is fancy.

I only got through the closet today.  I couldn't bear going through his drawers.  He has the cutest little butt and the thought that he might need bigger underwear is just too much to take. We'll save that for another day.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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