A mother's treasures

A mother's memory box might perplex an archaeologist, what with its Popsicle sticks, small blankets, macaroni art, odd pieces of change, tiny teeth, strands of hair, shin guards, retainers and the occasional dried up piece of ... something.

But to a mother -- and eventually to her children -- such a box is intensely meaningful, a tangible record of maternal memories. We asked mothers to share some of the most meaningful, amusing or simply odd items they've kept for posterity. Responses ranged from refrigerator art to game pieces to a variety of, um, passed objects. Often it isn't the object itself, but its story that makes the memory.

Heirloom sun suit

"My memory box is full, but I chose to share this tiny sun suit worn by my three sons, Dave in 1943, Steve in 1946 and Jon (also pictured) in 1960."

$3,000 artwork

"All three of our (now grown) children needed braces. Money was tight, but we made sure they all got them. When their braces were taken off, I could not bear to throw them out. So after all three had them off, I cleaned the silver and formed a picture of lily of the valley flowers, framed it and hung it in our bathroom."

Recovered game piece

"Our son (now 14) had a typical 3-year-old curiosity about putting small things into places they shouldn't be. He was looking at the Game of Life that has those extremely small, ¼- to 1/2-inch long, little blue and pink plastic people. I noticed that one was missing and asked him what he had done with it. Knowing he had tried to do this before, I asked him if he had put it up his nose. Lots of denial -- and then his nose began to run an hour later. The doctor available, on a summer Friday afternoon when everyone has left for the weekend, had been with the practice for only two weeks. This was a new one for him. After trying everything he could, he decided it would need to be vacuumed out. However, the office with the equipment upstairs had already closed for the weekend. Off in the car again to Minneapolis to an office next to Abbott Northwestern. He was placed on a table, and a little vacuum was inserted up his nose, and out came the little blue plastic person. We have it in a Ziploc bag for posterity."

Ink blot

"My second child, a daughter who is now 11 years old, was so luscious as an infant that I couldn't get enough of her pudgy wrists and bread dough thighs. When I finally got around to filling in her baby book, she was about four months old -- an especially 'ripe' age. Obsessed and in love, I had to document my little Venus. So I stripped her down, sat one of her butt cheeks in a green ink pad, and then sat her on my canvas -- an empty page in the baby book. There, on page 15, is this mother's most precious memory, an indistinguishable, beautiful green smear. (My tweenager, of course, now rolls her eyes whenever I mention my, um, former paintbrush.)"

Macaroni necklace

"My best Mother's Day tradition is wearing a necklace my son, Ron, made for me in Cub Scouts in 1976 when he was 8 years old. I put it on and we went to church. He went to the children's service in the attached school, while I attended mass. I was a young, inexperienced mother at the time. When he got into the school, I took the necklace off, put it on the dash of the car and went into church. It was more important at that point in my life to look good than to be proud of the necklace my son had made with his own hands. When he came out of services, he caught me putting it back on my neck. As the years went on and I realized the importance of the real things in life, I have worn that necklace every Mother's Day. I would wear that necklace anywhere and can't imagine being so short-minded that I would have thought otherwise. It will be around my neck again this year. My son will see it, shake his head and roll his eyes. I know he loves it every year. Lesson learned."

Set of jacks

"My mother passed away about a year and half ago and as I was cleaning out drawers, closets, etc., in the back of a kitchen drawer I found my old jacks set in the little bag that I had bought it in. I was shocked that she saved it. When I was 5 or 6 years old, I used to sit on the kitchen floor and play jacks. I couldn't believe that 40-some years later, I would see that bag of jacks again! Needless to say, it brought a tear to my eye."

Staples

"Imagine my 30-year-old daughter's joy when she opens the little pink box in my dresser drawer and finds the metal staples I saved all these years after bringing her into the world by way of an emergency C-section! Ouch!!"

Training bra

"I've saved most everything from our first-born child -- her ID bracelet from the hospital, baby dresses, hair from her first haircut. As the years progressed, it was Valentine outfits, Halloween costumes and Christmas dresses. After several moves to different homes over the years, what to do with all these wonderful memories in a mother's memory box? Then, an announcement of impending marriage, a beautiful wedding and -- as their car left in a whirlwind of tin cans, crepe paper ribbons and shaving cream -- what was flying from the car antenna but my darling daughter's first training bra!"

Dirty socks

"My 4-year-old son opened our door and went on an adventure. It was a late fall afternoon and was starting to get cold. After a search of more than an hour with neighbors and police, our little boy was found almost a mile from our home. He had gone through the woods into an unfamiliar neighborhood. The police took me in their squad car and when he saw me, he ran into my arms and I cried the happiest tears. It was only then that I realized he had on no shoes. I decided to save his filthy little socks as a reminder of that day."

Shiny blanket tag

"My son, a 15-year-old high school freshman, would be mortified to know that his mother is telling the world about a special keepsake I have saved all of these years since he was a baby. As a newborn, he received a baby blanket as a gift: white with multicolored balloons printed on it. Like all blankets, it had a satiny tag with the washing instructions. Before he could drift off to sleep at night, he absolutely had to have that tag in his left hand and his right thumb in his mouth. When the tag finally fell off of the blanket, he switched to rubbing the tags on the backs of his shirts. I have an adorable picture of him sitting on the couch, sucking his right thumb and contorting his left arm over and behind his head so that he can reach and rub the tag on the back of his shirt. I've saved the original blanket tag all of these years."

Early 'sex ed' art

"I'm pretty sure that one of the most embarrassing items that my daughter will find in her box of memories will be one of her school papers from second grade that I laminated and saved. On the paper was a picture of a dog with a bumble bee buzzing around it. The students were supposed to 'fill in the lines' and describe what they thought would happen next in the picture. My daughter wrote: 'The bee will sting the dog and the dog will have puppies.' ''

Everything

"By the time my kids are 18, I will have amassed the world's largest collection of bizarre memories for my kids Ava, 8, and Nicholas, 6. Along with the obvious saved umbilical cords, I have saved hair from every one of my son's 11 haircuts with details regarding time, date and name of barber. Hair with the gum stuck in it. Every tooth with notes of when the tooth actually came in and who witnessed the loss of the tooth and of course what year the silver dollar is dated from the tooth fairy. But the strangest thing I have saved is a large chunk of impacted ear wax that the doctor had to remove after Ava complained that her ears were broken when she was 4. I also have the ear tube that was removed two years after her ear surgery, every Band-Aid from all of their baby shots with dates and details. My only regret is that after I started looking through the books again I can't believe that I lost Ava's big toenail from when she was 18 months old and lost her nail. The little vellum envelope is now empty. I guess that is probably a good thing for her."

Kim Ode • 612-673-7185