What do you wish your parents had saved?

[ThursdayNext]

So, I'm trying to round up stuff for a consignment sale, and my husband and daughter want to keep everything.

 

He asks me if I want to save ANYTHING for the kids to have when they are grown up.

 

What are you saving for your kids/grandkids? What do you want to have from your childhood?

 

 

 

My answer: I have one box of small toys/mementos from my childhood. It seems like enough. I saved quite a few books, but wish I had kept more. A few favorite picture books would make a good trip down memory lane. Photographs would have been nice. And I would like to have some of the old quilts someday.

Edited August 14, 2016 by ThursdayNext

[Sk8ermaiden]

My mom left it up to me what to save, mostly. I had a large storage thing and all the schoolwork/mementos I wanted to keep just needed to fit in. As for toys? The only things I have valued in adulthood were the toys that were quality and expensive that my kids can use. So the Lego and American Girl stuff....

 

Of DH's, the Lego and the small gauge metal model trains. 

 

Of my children's stuff so far, all I am saving is the Lego, the American Girl stuff, and a nice stained wooden walking push toy with chomping alligators B loved. 

 

...ALWAYS save the Lego.

 

 

Ah, I was a book hoarder more than anything else. I have ALL my favorites from about third grade on. I have really liked pulling down my old copies to share with my daughter. But let me tell you what, there has been lots of scotch tape involved. Most of my paperbacks were not made to last. I will be saving their very favorite books.

Edited August 14, 2016 by Sk8ermaiden

[Arcadia]

What my parents wished they saved:

Legos

Playmobil

 

What they saved:

Baby photos

Soft toys

 

My kids loves my soft toys :)

 

What I wish they saved:

Classics in English and Chinese

Chinese readers for 1st-3rd grade

 

ETA:

My kids love looking at my childhood photos too. We have none of hubby's :(

Edited August 14, 2016 by Arcadia

[Spryte]

What my mother saved for me: Breyer horses; Silver Brumby book series; a few Black Stallion books; my first book on horse care. (There's a theme here.). A crocheted blanket from my grandmother. A pillow on which I had embroidered ... Wait for it ... A horse!

 

As an adult, going through her attic, those are the things I kept. She had saved other items, but mostly I tossed them - papers, ribbons & trophies, endless books of poems and angst-ridden journals. Tons of books that didn't weather 30 years in an attic well. Stuffed animals, and concert tshirts. Out of all that, I only saved a signed Ramones show flyer.

 

I might have been more sentimental had she not hoarded so much other stuff we had to clean out at the same time. :)

 

For my kids - a few cherished wooden baby toys, their first outfits, playmobil and Lego (realistically, we will not keep all of either of those categories, and we may end up passing them along if I change my mind), some favorite books, a few excellent art projects, pictures of lots of projects, Haba Ball Tracks, and I'm not sure what else. We will see what feels most loved. I think the ball tracks are making the cut, for sure. :)

 

What I wish my parents had saved: favorite picture books. Though hunting them down used to share with my kids has been fun.

Edited August 14, 2016 by Spryte

[Janeway]

I loved the little people and they got rid of that. I wish I had something I had written or something. Nothing was saved.

[HomeAgain]

I have some of my books, and a niece has my original Pleasant Company American Girl while another niece has the pattern set to make dresses for her (newer) doll.

 

 

For my children/grandchildren, I'm keeping a few things from each age:
-playsilks and wooden baby toys

-wooden tabletop kitchen and play food

-wooden marble run and blocks

-legos

-baseball/playing cards

 

I think that's it.  We move often and I don't want to carry around more than necessary.  Books they don't take with them will probably stay with us, too.

[LucyStoner]

Aside from a few pictures, the family bible and religious paperwork (certificates from baptism, first communion and confirmation) my parents saved basically nothing. I don't know what I wish they would have saved. I do know I am glad they didn't save everything like my MIL did for my husband. I found dealing with that volume of stuff to be highly overwhelming.

 

When I moved out at 17 I had a couple of cartons of stuff I owned, a backpack full of clothing and that was that.

[Denisemomof4]

My parents sold EVERYTHING before they moved out of their house. I was so upset because they had many Chinese items and furniture. My youngest daughter is Chinese. The mist heartbreaking item they sold was a village my grandfather built for a toy train. It was beautiful and had mountains, a mirrored lake, etc. They got so little for everything. The village fetched $25. I will never understand why that wasn't kept in the family.

[BarbecueMom]

The only things I wish my mom saved were the VHS tapes of things we recorded from TV as a kid. Square One, Carmen Sandiego, Muppet Family Christmas, etc. Pretty sure the tapes were damaged due to overuse.

 

I do have photos and a few books that my mom saved. Oh, and my 4th grade basketball t-shirt. I actually wore that to the grocery store today.

[hornblower]

We came to Canada with 3 suitcases and 2 trunks. I have a teddy bear and a book from my childhood. It's enough.

 

My dh grew up a few miles from where we live now and he has nothing from his childhood except a few photographs. He doesn't care at all.

 

I'm starting a big purge of our kids' stuff this fall. I'll keep a few stuffies and books and toss the rest - if ds lets me. He's a sentimental one...

[Spryte]

When I moved out at 17 I had a couple of cartons of stuff I owned, a backpack full of clothing and that was that.

Same here, or so I thought. :) It was liberating, looking back. I had no idea my mom had saved anything. We just cleaned out her house a year or so ago, and it was all packed in her attic. Kind of fun, also overwhelming. My father didn't save anything, nor did the in-laws.

 

For DSS, I saved very little. Lego. Papers, awards. A few things. One box full. But his mom literally saved everything, so he'll have it all to manage someday.

[Guest]

Less! I wish she had saved less!

 

My kids might be more sentimental than me, but I've found the Legos and Dolls/MyLittlePonies most useful when I visit. Otherwise toss it.

[SKL]

Some special storybooks.  As an adult I went on ebay and bought some books I remembered from early childhood.  :)

 

But generally, I'm not sentimental.  Less is more.  :)  I used to be more of a hoarder, until some point in young adulthood when I got sick of clutter and became a purger.  :)

[lovinmyboys]

My parents didn't save much and I am fine with that. I wish they would have saved my little people camping set. I loved that.

 

Dh's parents saved way too much and gave it all to us. He threw most of it away and was pretty overwhelmed (and also didn't want to hurt his moms feelings).

 

I have not saved much and I hope I don't regret it. We have plenty of pictures. The kids are all under 10, so I still have all the Legos and playmobil and stuff. I just got rid of probably 500 picture books. That made me sad, but I am actually enjoying having fewer. We use the library mostly.

[SKL]

I think I might have a box in my parents' attic from 30 years ago.  The attic was basically condemned after a re-roofing project left it covered in black soot.  Lord knows what is up there.  :P

 

My folks' house has a lot of old crap in it.  They had 6 kids, and some of them never moved out all the way.  :P

[lovinmyboys]

The only things I wish my mom saved were the VHS tapes of things we recorded from TV as a kid. Square One, Carmen Sandiego, Muppet Family Christmas, etc. Pretty sure the tapes were damaged due to overuse.

 

I do have photos and a few books that my mom saved. Oh, and my 4th grade basketball t-shirt. I actually wore that to the grocery store today.

I loved, loved, loved square one. I just looked a few weeks ago to see if I could find episodes somewhere. No luck.

[momacacia]

I can't think of anything I wish they'd saved. They saved some Little People toys and some beautiful books. I love the "Technicolor" Childcraft poetry books the most. :)

[KungFuPanda]

NOTHING. I wish they'd get rid of more stuff. I don't wanna be in my 60s, mourning the passing of my last parent, and simultaneously cursing them for forcing me to deal with all the CRAP they've saved "just in case someone wants it." I also think it's impossible to win this one. It's like minimalism and hoarding alternates generations :-/

[Upptacka]

My mom saved a lot, but I wish she hadn't. Photos are great, and maybe a few momentos. I ended up tossing most of what she had saved (some toys, books, papers, lots of impersonal cards I had received) because they were gross and moldy -- I didn't want my kids playing with them, and I didn't want to keep storing them just because I felt guilty purging them. So I took some pictures of the items and tossed them. It felt great! The things I have enjoyed the most (of saved items) are photos and Christmas ornaments. And a nice painting I did in 3rd grade.

 

I am saving a few things for my kids, but I don't want to burden them with too much. I also can't stand keeping bins and bins full of stuff. It just gets to be too much to keep it all, and then you lose sight of the really special things.

[cjzimmer1]

My mom saved some of my favorite toys and books.  A few things she gave to me and others she keeps at her house for the grandkids.  This has turned out to be a wise choice.  The things that came to my house (my most favorite), are ignored or broken, my kids have no interest.  The things that she kept at least get played with (of course there aren't any other choices so they can't be picky).  The only thing I'm really glad to have is my favorite stuffed animal - a yellow dog.  They bought it for me when I was 4 and having surgery.  I ended up with 2 back to back hospitalizations and total spent close to 2 weeks there.  The dog was my constant companion. He was loved, tattered, torn (and sown back together multiple times by my mom).  Now he sits on my headboard and my 3 year old snuggles him when I take him my room for nap time.  I've never been a big fan of books as a kid or now so those hold no value to me.

 

Oh and she saved all my report cards and end of year notes my teachers wrote.  They have been kind of fun to look through (and I've used my high school ones a couple of times for reference when figuring out credit and grades and GPA for my own high schooler)

Edited August 14, 2016 by cjzimmer1

[Anne in CA]

My mom gave away my boxed set of Little House on the Prairie books. Cheeses me off if I think about it too long, but oh well. Most of the things I cared about were books, but I was the oldest and after four kids and several moves my favorite books were simply in tatters.

[Shred Betty]

NOTHING. I wish they'd get rid of more stuff. I don't wanna be in my 60s, mourning the passing of my last parent, and simultaneously cursing them for forcing me to deal with all the CRAP they've saved "just in case someone wants it." I also think it's impossible to win this one. It's like minimalism and hoarding alternates generations :-/

^ this

 

My Mom saved my schoolwork. My clothing. My books. My piano books. My dishes. My soft toys. (ew, not a fan of the soft toys! They and wooden blocks smelled terrible.). Now all this stuff gets dregged out of some dark musty corner and handed to my daughter... It just gives me the willies. Are they MY mementos, or my Mom's? Or now hers? So my daughter loves the handmade clothes that were in fashion in the 80's... But it rubs me the wrong way to see her wearing them lol.

[mamiof5]

I wish my mom had taken more pictures, and maybe a pic or two of some of my work, art pieces or something

[nd293]

I have my old school reports - those are a fun snapshot of how I was as a child.

 

I have a few childhood photos - my kids have never asked to see them.

 

I don't have any interest in keeping high school photos or momentos - I got rid of those myself. Also no interest in keeping diaries or such.

 

I wish my Mom has held onto books for me. A few years ago I tracked down some young adult books I remembered reading in high school and ordered them through Abebooks - it makes me so happy to have them! The first book I remember reading was in primary school, though.

 

I wish I'd kept my 'lovies' - the toys I slept with as a child. I got rid of those when I was 10 or so and wish my Mom had spirited them away and held on to them.

 

I'm generally not sentimental, so one small box would be all it took. I have a couple of drawers full of toddler toys and books that I'm holding onto for my kids, and every few years I put together a large portfolio book of samples of their drawings, writing and other school work. Maybe 20 or 30 large sheets for 2-4 years work.

[nd293]

I loved, loved, loved square one. I just looked a few weeks ago to see if I could find episodes somewhere. No luck.

There seems to be a playlist on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB4IfhVO_zpiwhLFL3Jl_KP0ZHBQ07LTv

 

Not sure if that's what you were looking for?

Edited August 14, 2016 by nd293

[lovinmyboys]

There seems to be a playlist on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB4IfhVO_zpiwhLFL3Jl_KP0ZHBQ07LTv

 

Not sure if that's what you were looking for?

Awesome! Thanks!

[Night Elf]

The only thing my mom saved for me were a few award type papers and drawings I did in elementary school. We also had pictures in albums. She gave me some of my baby pictures but she keeps the albums at her house.

 

I've saved what the kids wanted to save from their childhood. The funniest thing is my youngest dd's collection of Junie B. Jones paperback books. She's convinced my grandchildren will cherish those books like she does. I kept the Brio train box, lots of Lego sets as well as drawers of individual colors/pieces, different books that were their favorite reads, and Playmobil.

 

I also have a baby box for each of them that has stuff from their infancy. Things like the first pair of shoes, hat from the hospital, a handmade blanket, and handprints from Kindergarten.

[kewb]

My mother saved nothing.  I wish I still had my little people from the 70's.  I had the armless people, the dog, the schoolhouse, and the ferris wheel.  And I also wish she saved my fisher price tic toc clock.  I loved that clock.  Played with it for hours.  I was lucky to get out of childhood with some of my stuffed animals and books.  My mom is not sentimental and tosses liberally.

 

I have saved the Thomas the Tank Engine trains and tracks, wood blocks, and some classic board games.  There is a bunch of toys I am waiting for my teens to be ready to let go of.

[VaKim]

Books and any really nice/expensive toys or puzzles. No junk and nothing just for sentimental reasons. 

[mmasc]

What I'm glad my Mom saved from childhood:

Many hardcover, classic books that I'm able to read to my own DC right now.

 

What I wish had been saved:

My sticker album. :)

 

We move often, so I'm trying to keep a 'save for my grandkids' box that is one of those bigger Rubbermaid type containers. I'm trying to keep it at just one. :) I have a Fisher Price farm in it right now. I'll also put all of the Thomas trains in it. I'm not sure what else yet. Oh, and books don't count in the 'one container'

plan. ;)I'll keep those to read to my grandkids, or give to my children as adults if they want them.

[happypamama]

My parents saved a few books and special/classic toys, I think, which they keep at their house for the grandkids.  It's fun to see my kids play with stuff that my siblings and I played with.  They also saved a box of mementos (report cards, etc.) for each of us; they recently brought me my box, and I liked being able to show my kids a little about what life and school looked like when I was little.  And, I made letters the same way one of my sons does.  Mom also saved my prom gowns, which are now in my attic, and a small box of special clothes of mine, like some tiny smocked dresses; my daughter wore a few of those as a baby.  Plus they have photo albums, although not like the tons of photos we have of our kids thanks to digital.  A year ago, they downsized, and Mom passed on a bunch of board games that were ours in the nineties, plus she's often passed on homeschool books/materials.  I appreciate the stuff they saved; it was just enough that I have some of my childhood to remember and to share with my children but not so much that it's burdensome.

 

My ILs saved some photos and schoolwork of my DH's that they passed on to us, plus some books/toys/games that they keep at their house.  They have a lot of the vintage Little People (choking hazards removed).  They also saved all of DH's LEGO (cool!) and several sets of his toys.  I'm less thrilled about some of the toys, only because it's quite a bit.  But my kids like playing with Daddy's army men and trucks.  Some of the stuff is cool because it's metal instead of modern plastic, but some of the plastic stuff doesn't hold up well, like maybe it's gotten brittle over the years?

[happypamama]

My mom gave away my boxed set of Little House on the Prairie books. Cheeses me off if I think about it too long, but oh well. Most of the things I cared about were books, but I was the oldest and after four kids and several moves my favorite books were simply in tatters.

Oh, man, that's so sad!  I took my LH books when I got my first house, a couple of years after we got married, because they all have inscriptions from my grandparents in them.  I'm pretty sure Mom would have saved those anyway, but I'd have been SO sad to lose them.

[Guest]

My parents saved some Little Golden Books from their childhood, board games from mine. We did not own many toys, and what we had was passed on as we outgrew them if they survived. I have several knick knacks that I like and consider worth keeping and dusting, as well as my grandmother's china and my mother's jewelry.

 

I would like to have had medical records and an address book with relative info. The latter was lost by the coroner or pd offices apparently. The medical records cant be released. And I would like to have had my father's military records...there are scholarships for gc of career servicemen who served during wars, but one needs an official DD214...which of course the govt couldnt locate upon my request.

[PrairieSong]

I took what I wanted, books and a few favorite toys. I wish my mom had saved MUCH less. Since she passed away several years ago I've cleaned so much stuff out of that house, but there's a ton left. I'll have to deal with it after my dad passes away and I dread the thought. It will be a monumental task. I hope we have enough help.

[reign]

Tucked away with family photos my mom kept report cards, standardized tests, newspaper clippings, and a couple random kindergarten projects. Which is funny because I remember making those projects! I was really into kindergarten. School really went down hill from there. Besides that everything I have is stuff I kept. We didn't have much and my mom says she never got ride of anything. My brother and I would trash stuff as we aged. I saved a lunch box full of McDonald's toys and my girls loved those as toddlers. It was the first figures/barbies they owned. Those got so much play! I let them play outside in the mud and eventually had to garbage them. Fun while it lasted.

 

I'm saving a bunch of stuff so far. I have a lot of old homeschool stuff too. Hopefully I'll weed it out as they age.

[Sallie Mae]

I see several of you wish you still had your "Little House" books from your childhood. Though I had a chaotic childhood and moved several times, I still have my complete set of Little House books. I was looking at them the other day with my sister and we both agreed the books are too old and fragile to be used the way a book should be used. The pages are ready to fall apart even when used gently, and they smell old. I will be throwing them away, and I will purchase more expensive and better made set for my daughter. Hopefully a better made set will age better than the basic set I had did.

[tm919]

Really just the legos. Most of the other things that I wanted, they saved. The legos they thought would be pointless to save, but my daughters have my husband's old legos, and honestly some of those sets are better than the ones we could buy now.

[MaeFlowers]

My mom has kept some random things. Mostly nice things. But, I still don't want them. For some reason, most stuff like that just creeps me out.

 

What's really annoying...my MIL kept everything from dh and gives it to ds. I usually pitch it as soon as he gets home because it was junk even in the 70's/80's. I mean dollar store type stuff. Why would you keep all that? The worst was an outfit from when dh was two. I mentioned getting photos done when ds was turning two. My MIL pulls out the outfit still on the hanger from 30 years before. She wanted ds to wear it because dh had. She thought it was so sweet but it was hideous (red velvet lederhosen with a satin Peter Pan colored shirt.) Luckily, dh vetoed that very quickly.

[HollyDay]

I wish my parents had saved my matchbox collection and my high school year books.

[J-rap]

I'm not a very sentimental person.  So, my parents did save all of the cute letters I put under their pillows at night, and family newsletters I typed up when I was 10, and all the paper dolls I made, and so much more...  And I appreciate that they were so sweet to save them, but I really wouldn't have cared if they didn't. 

 

I am trying to save the same types of things my kids made or wrote, plus a favorite stuffed animal or two and favorite outfit or two, but it's not because I'm sentimental about it all.  I'm just doing it because I think maybe as a parent I should be doing this!

Edited August 15, 2016 by J-rap

[momto10blessings]

A few fun schools papers. Most of my old toys got ruined from storing them. A mouse got into one box. Other toys just became gross from sitting in a box for so many years.

[Guest]

We have hundred year old books and my grandmother's scrapbooks from 1929-1934. These were mostly saved in a more forgiving climate than where we live now, so I made sure to have Gran's scrapbooks, diaries, and poetry digitized as soon as they got here.

 

Gran was considered one of the most promising young poets to come out of the South until 1929 happened and transmorgrified her into the (perceived) disposable dingbat who answers the telephones, types up memos, and makes coffee.

 

dd27 is visiting Mom and helping her pack up to move to a retirement community as I type this. I am touched by what Mom saved from my childhood and love and want everything she wants to send me. The only thing that I wish she'd saved that she didn't was a letter I wrote to my future daughter when I was 13 or 14.

 

Mom actually might have saved that. I'll know when the boxes get here. dd just said, "I'm going to throw some old pictures and notes in this box unless you tell me not to." and wasn't the slightest bit interested in reading the letter either now or when she was living with Mom in her teens.

 

She seems to feel the same way as the rest of you millenials do, so reading this thread has helped me let go of any guilt about tossing things she doesn't want to make room for things I DO want from my own childhood and things that the caboose baby, ds8, DOES want for Christmas.

 

Her old homeschooling curricula, samples of her handwriting, letters from her Laurel Springs' teacher from K-2, old newsletters from our homeschooling group, letters that she wrote me when our Canon Starwriter Word Processor was the most exciting and futuristic thing we had ever seen, are all parts of MY life that I scan and save for ME.

Edited August 15, 2016 by Guest

[regentrude]

Nothing.

My parents have kept way too much stuff. I have no desire to inherit the attic full of old toys, childhood paraphernalia, mementos, left for me to clean up when I am in late middle age. 

 

I have some photographs from my childhood, and too many books. I kept a box with stuff at my parent's home and, over the years, have gradually purged the contents to almost nothing.

I have a few items that belonged to my grandmothers, which I specifically requested: two children's books that used to belong to dad that I always read while at Grandmas, one tiny vase and a Christmas angel that belonged to my other grandma.

Moving overseas helps keep a healthy distance from sentimental attachment to stuff.

Edited August 15, 2016 by regentrude

[SounderChick]

My parents saved Photo Albums :) Special Edition books from my Grandfather that I didn't have room for when I 1st moved out, and Trophies and Awards.  The trophies should have been thrown out they are just to bulky and useless.  

 

The only thing I wish in hindsight they had kept was my Nintendo its strange how often I wish I could play a little Mario Bros or Duck hunt, LOL.

 

 

[Guest]

My old Highest Scoring Junior Handler dog show trophy is a silver revere bowl that will be promoted to ds' Fourth of July basket, where Paul Revere will leave patriotic office supplies, candy, American history trivia puzzle books, a new pair of shorts, etc. sort of like an Easter basket or a Christmas stocking.

 

I felt the same way rebcoola did at first. The trophy has bittersweet memories, but it is something Mom has treasured for over 35 years and it can contain small items every bit as well as an empty butter tub or a disposable plastic box from the dollar store.

Edited August 15, 2016 by Guest

[Ravin]

DH was resentful for a long time of his mother getting rid of most of his stuff after he went in to the Navy. 

 

I was held responsible for taking care of my own stuff--I had to box up my room before I left for boot camp after high school, designating what was to go to my first duty station and what was to go into storage. My parents downsized into a smaller home while I was in basic training.

 

Over time, I took some of the boxes from my mother's shed and moved them to my own home. By the time DD was born she didn't have any of my stuff any more.

 

Things that have been passed down in the family, such as paintings by grandparents, my mom has gradually been divesting by doling out to my sisters and I, and some jewelry pieces to grandchildren. She had one of my sisters go through our childhood albums of photos, and she divvied them up and gave them out to us (mom didn't want to keep anything with dad's picture after the divorce). 

 

I have a suitcase and a couple of bins with childhood things and mementos from when I was in the Navy--a few stuffed animals, my scout vest and sash, my Space Camp jumpsuit, my high school yearbooks, I may still have my service medals somewhere, and the Hard Rock Cafe teddy bears I collected from liberty ports around the world, a scrapbook I made of Navy stuff. I've gradually been paring it down and letting things go.

 

My mom still might have my baby book.

 

I never made baby books for my kids. I just throw stuff up on Facebook. Most of DD's baby pictures were lost because they were on a computer that went kaput, so I love the Cloud.

 

DD has asked me to help her pare down her pile of a room. I just went through a box this morning. I'm working on it while she's in her enrichment program.

 

 

[BlsdMama]

So, I'm trying to round up stuff for a consignment sale, and my husband and daughter want to keep everything.

 

He asks me if I want to save ANYTHING for the kids to have when they are grown up.

 

What are you saving for your kids/grandkids? What do you want to have from your childhood?

 

 

 

My answer: I have one box of small toys/mementos from my childhood. It seems like enough. I saved quite a few books, but wish I had kept more. A few favorite picture books would make a good trip down memory lane. Photographs would have been nice. And I would like to have some of the old quilts someday.

 

 

They saved baby/child pictures.  I love looking at those because ONE (out of ALL of them) of my daughters looks like me and it's fun to show her that because she really doesn't look much like her sibs. ;)

 

Other than that?  I am thankful my mom is a thrower-awayer.  Stuff drives me crazy and I don't want to have to sort through it when I'm emotional after a loss, kwim?  

[Lady Florida.]

I wish my mother had saved a lot less than she actually did. Going through her house after she died was painful. I don't want ds and dss to ever have to go through the same thing so I don't save much. I do ask ds about some childhood things before I get rid of them, but other than photos, I don't save much. And I wish my mom hadn't saved much.