"The Special Baby Box"

As a young girl, I loved, loved, loved when my Mom would bring out the big brown cardboard box that was marked "the special baby box". 

This big cardboard box held the most memorable outfits my Mom kept from when my sister and I were babies.  As a young girl, I would get so excited for her to take out the box....sometimes for the fifth time that week.  She would take out each little outfit or pair of shoes, showing us each one and telling us whether my sister or I wore it (99% of the time, the answer was "both", which I didn't correlate until later that this was called a "hand-me-down").  She would tell us who gave it to us as a gift or which polyester work pantsuit she had sewed it from (she knew how to get creative, so she could be a stay-at-home Mom!). 




She made that box feel completely magical as she would share the special memories of each outfit. 

After Maya was born, my Mom took out the box again.

This time, though, it wasn't only to reminisce. It was to share these memories and pass these special items on to me.

I pulled out the box this week. 

I took out each one of the special little outfits, imagining that 33 years ago, my Mom was putting these little outfits on me and imagining who this little person was going to become.



As I dressed Maya in this little orange sleeper this morning, it fit like a glove.  Her feet filled out the sleeper's built-in-feet and her hands appeared through the arm holes perfectly.  It isn't the latest trend from the Gap or the Baby Polo Spring Collection at Macy's, but it made me smile and I loved it. 

33 years ago, my Mom was putting this sleeper on me and probably thought I was the trendiest, cutest baby on the block.

(Little patent leather shoes I wore when I was a newborn...Maya's feet fit perfectly)

I am so grateful my Mom recognized the special memory she would create for me one day when I re-opened "the special baby box". 

I officially started Maya's "special baby box" today.  The first item I added was the outfit we brought her home in. 
Perhaps one day, she will also be blessed with a daughter that she'll pull her "special baby box" and love the moment just as much as I did today.