Mamma culpa

Usually my mea culpa's are triggered by the things I didn't do, not the things I did do. Like, say, not blogging. Or not vacuuming. Take your pick.

But yesterday I had to get down on my knees, look deeply into my son's eyes, and 'fess up: I gave away his Mega Bloks.

I've given away many of his toys after he's stopped playing with them, sometimes with his agreement and sometimes after a suitable period in which they have been hidden away without being missed.

Now that I think of it, he had actually agreed to give away the MegaBloks, but neither of us remembered that last night when he wanted to play with them, for the first time in months.

This is one of the few times that I've had to apologize for clutter-busting. Usually my clutter-busting generates a very positive response from all concerned but there have been exceptions:

1. Mega Bloks (see above). My son got over it pretty quickly.

2. Travel mugs. My husband kept bringing these home from golf tournaments. I figured two were enough and gave away the rest. He left one at his dad's and left the other in his car overnight. He was not impressed. He got over it.
3. My mother's teapot, which I broke for her. Seriously. I was trying to help her but I went about it the wrong way. Yes, I regret it.
4. An old bathrobe that I took from my grandmother's closet after she died. When my husband and I were engaged and preparing to move into our home together, I made a brief effort pare down. I asked him to choose between my black satin Victoria's Secret robe and my late grandmother's flowery pink cotton robe. Naturally, he picked the black satin. Of course the black satin stays in the back of the closet and I just wear his cotton-terry robe instead! I still keep the black satin because every year or so I break out the skimpy lingerie and it's nice to have something to cover up in. In the spirit of clutter-busting I guess I could toss the black satin and rock a terry-and-lace look... or not.
5. My Pillsbury Dough Boy cookie jar. I gave it away after much deliberation, and I miss the little fellow. Fortunately I have this sweet image of the Dough Boy and my beautiful son admiring his new monkey.

On a whim I just checked eBay and found dozens of cookie jars just like this. I miss it less already!

What are your clutter-busting regrets?