Gifts from Parents

Those are very special items. Please find a place for them. They should be kept in the family always.

I would never get rid of those (Yes-ME! The original "Get rid of EVERYTHING!" Person)
Attic
Dry basement
Outdoor shed
Parents attic or garage
Inlaws attic or garage
High shelves in garage

I agree to ask fil if he has room to store these things because you all do not have room for them. This will be the first step to either getting them to store them or you to be able to pass them along.

FYI, no one where we love have basements or prper attics, so if it does not store in the garage, it either is donated or passed on to a young relative.

You hold on to them. They will be priceless to your adult children. Of course, you don't want to hurt him, but you would hurt your kids far worse by simply getting rid of them. Try creative storage in your garage by installing shelving from the ceiling. Wrap the items well and place them up there. You could do the same in your attic.

Or get rid of other things wherever you are storing stuff. There is likely nothing in storage, unless it is your own sentimental stuff, that means more to the family than those items.

Or one last idea. Ask your mil and fil if they would mind storing in their home so that your kids will have the items for their children - your in laws great grand children.

All I know is that if I had family that gave a crud enough to make things like that for my babies, I would make absolutely sure that my two ds's would have them for my future grandchildren.

Can you buy a shed for the backyard and store things out there? If not, talk to your father in law about it. Tell him how much you love the items and how much you'd hate to get rid of them. If he can't store them for you until the kids have children of their own, tell him you're going to pass them on to close friends/family with younger children that will enjoy them as much as your own children have.

No matter what, see if you can keep one item per child somewhere in the house. I think you would all be happy to see something that their grandfather made for them.

My father made a crib for my first child. He passed away when she was only 8 months old, so that crib is very precious to me. I have carefully wrapped it and have it stored in my basement. I consider it an heirloom and would like it to stay in my family.

My advice would be to pick the one thing that means the most to you and keep it as something to hand down to your kids/grandkids.

Maybe your FIL has room to store it at his house?? I completely understand the storage issue, so maybe if you explained it to him, he would understand and keep some of the things at his house.

Good luck- this is a tough one! :)

I would ask your father in law if he has space. Some hand made things are not biggie things but a hand made cradle is a biggie. No way I would pass that on. Do you have a guest room that it could be in? An office? There is no space in your attic? I hope you find a space.

Does your dad have room to store them? My MIL stores some of that kind of stuff for us at her house because we have so little storage.

Could you get a storage locker, or does he have room to store them? They sound like heirloom items that would be wonderful for your kids to have when they have their own children.

People of the new generation don't understand the time and love that are thought and put into the items they give away. Sometimes it is inconvenient by the size but often it is as you say "lack of storage" to put items away.

When your child is grown and married and has a child it is great to see the items being used again. It brings back memories and it continues the family legacy of granddad, great granddad or great great granddad making x, y, z. The same for items made or sewn by hand - heirloom things.

I too will be making many little things for the "future" family members while I am alive that I may never meet but want them to have and or wear. Each of my grown children and my grandson will get a box.

Coming from an era in America when handmade quality items were made is just a different look on the throw away society that we have created over the years. Something old means very little to many and it sometimes does take up space just like the wedding dress that many of us still have in the closet that our daughter(s) won't wear.

To each his own. I would ask the FIL to store them for me until the next wave of family members comes along.

the other S.

PS There will be a time that you will want something that was made and it will be gone. I have had that happen a few times in my life.

I would not get rid of them!!!! The only things I still hold on to from my childhood are the items that were made for me by hand by someone I loved. These are items that are meant to be passed down by your children to their own children one day. If you absolutely have no where to put them then ask your FIL if he might be able to store them for a few years, but please don't get rid of them, your kids will regret it one day.

What great heirlooms for your kids! These items are beyond priceless. They will never be found on the shelves of Toy R US or Wal-Mart. Your children have memories of these special presents & I would bet they would like to pass them on to your future grandkids. Find a way to store them, please.
We have a tiny house & yard with very little storage, so we put up a tall Rubber Maid shed between the fence & the side of the house that doesn't have a gate. It wasn't that expensive, certainly cheaper than a monthly storage unit, & we bought the tall one, so that we could really pack the boxes high. Two people can put it up in a couple of hours. Ours is a boring gray, but once you start looking at storage sheds, you see that there are some that are actually cute & could be painted to match your house. Those, alas, were out of my price range.

The other place you may not of thought of for storage is the attic. Several friends have put down boards over rafters, covering the installation & created a floor to stash stuff. It's kinda a pain to get to often, setting up & hauling the stuff up & down the ladder, but if the stuff is going to be there for years...not a bad idea. I've even seen a couple of attics turned into kids playrooms or bedrooms.

For those of you not in SoCal, most houses here have no basements & no attic space. The attic is just a nasty crawl space between the ceiling of the top floor & the roof, with installation between the 2 x 4s holding up the house showing. Depending on the peak of the roof, an adult can't even stand up straight. But it can be turned into great storage or even a room.

I've stored for my girls the special things, the rocking chair, the handmade blankets, christening dresses, ceramic dolls, booties, the special books that our families have made or given to them over the years. They know that & are looking forward to using them with their children. I have not stored every little thing they ever owned. Just things with meaning, made or bought with an exceptional amount of love. And I had to put them away, because space is an issue & I worried things might get broken/ripped up. So after they know longer were using them, I stored them.

I would not get rid of them. They are hand made personal items that your children can remember him by, grandpa made me this when I was little sort of things when they have children of their own. Those are made with thought and love and hardwork. I think you'd regret getting rid of them. Either your father in law will be upset or your kids or even both.

wow, most of the time i'd just say 'donate them', but these are real family treasures. does your FIL have room to store them for you, if you approach him with real appreciation, and from the perspective that you want these marvelous works of art to be available to your grandkids?
if not, it's probably worth it to rent a storage bin for them.
khairete
S.

Ooh that's a tough one, because it's hard to get rid of things that were lovingly made for you by someone. If it were me I would keep the most very special items, and then tell your FIL your problem (no storage space) and ask him if he would mind if you donated his wonderful gifts to needy children through appropriate organizations.

I mean, isn't the point of stuff to be used and appreciated, not just stored away?

How much time and energy would you put into finding storage for them if they were made by your dad?

Do you have an attic? Store them so your kids can have them when they are grown and have kids of their own. They will make wonderful, "gifts" to the great grandkids from the great grand parents that way. :)

Consider storing (or asking your FIL to store) the larger items that your children can one day share with THEIR children (I think he'd be flattered rather than offended). For the items that can be dismantled, think about taking them apart and saving just the personalized part.

My "uncle" (actually a good friend of my parents) was a wood-worker and made me a number of things growing up. Eventually I let go of most of it, but the step-stool he made me for my very first Christmas has made every move with me for 32 years having lost it's legs when I outgrew it, I hung the flat seat on my bedroom door as a kid, and now just stand it on a shelf, and the rocking chair I received at four came back out when my son was a toddler and is still in my living room and regularly used by my son (8 yo).

I don't know where to put them, but I will say that I have a few pieces that were hand made by my father and grandfather and if I had to store them on my back, I would NEVER get rid of them. Please figure it out; they will mean A LOT to your kids when they are older!

I there a way you could create storage area in your garage? My garage is quite high and has boards going across at about 8 feet off the floor. If your's is like this you could get some plywood and lay it on top of the boards and create a second floor in your garage. Wrap the items well, label them, and place up in the garage. When your kids have little ones of their own give them the items made by grandpa for their kids to enjoy.

I would store them in a box, to where your kids will have them when they grow up! Thats amazing wood work, they would love to keep it!

You will have to get creative with your storage. Where there is a will there is a way. As the grandchild and recipient of these items I can’t tell you how much I cherish them.
I have been known to bring things temporarily to my office as I make room and/or arrangements. Also I cycle some things through my office on a regular basis so they don't sit permanently in storage. One of my grandfathers was a plane nut and I have dozens of model wooden airplanes. I hang one from my office ceiling and rotate it out periodically. Overall I have several pieces made by my father and my two grandfathers plus a rocking chair my great grandmother rocked my grandfather in. Trust me when I tell you nothing matches that rocking chair but it's not going anywhere. I have carved out a spot in our home for it to reside permanently. I have rocked my own babies in that chair and that is something very, very special. Some things you just keep in my opinion.
With wood pieces you need to be aware of the effects of temperature and moisture on them, though. I was looking at an antique bed once which was very much the worse for the wear after spending several decades in the garage. It was basically trash due to improper storage which was such a shame.

Are you going to want to store the rocking horse in your teenager's room? No. You have to get rid of things sometime. I am a sentimental person but I've lived long enough to know, when that grand baby comes along, you won't want a ton of things with his Father's name on them. You will want the baby's name on them. Choose one or two and ask Gramps if he wants to store the rest. You might want him to make something like a shelf that has storage possibilities without being part of the problem.

Keep 1-2 pieces per child. Photograph the rest and write a caption a out the occasion for which it was made or any other relevant sentimental info. Don't encourage them to become hoarders at an early age.
One of my best friends is spending this long cold winter emptying out her parents' home of four generations of heirlooms and keepsakes. For example, her family is Jewish and her M. kept in the house two sets of everyday dishes, two sets of good dishes, and two sets of Passover dishes for every bride from herself to my friend's great-great-grandmother! My friend had to take a leave of absence from her job to do this. Trust me, any fondness she felt for these treasures is overcome by resentment for commuting daily to a five bedroom home packed basement to rafters.

Those are heirlooms for your children to give to their children. Woodworking is a dying art. My mother's father was a master carpenter and I still have the dresser he made me, albeit it's currently in my attic until I feel my daughters are responsible enough to take care of it. It's still in perfect condition. I used it myself until we moved into this house and bought new bedroom furniture.

Please find a way. If you had purchased those things or they were given as gifts that weren't made from his own hands, I would say sell them or donate them, but they are valuable. They're a family treasure for many reasons. You may be able to find a way to "repurpose" them until your children can take them into their own homes to give their own children.