Nope, not this big spender. I'd throw away every single bin and bag of hand-me-downs on all three levels of my house. My luxurious indulgence would be to never have to sort through another blasted bin of clothes. When kids outgrew stuff, I'd just give it away; and when they needed bigger clothes I'd just go buy them! Never again would I be bent over, rummaging through a bin of 12-18 month (or is this one mislabeled and it's mainly 18-24 or 2T?), figuring out if it's full of winter or summer clothes and what's going to fit whom; packing up things that are too small for child A, but never packing them too far away because before long, they will be needed by child B. But oh, that child was born at a different time of year so I need size 18 month winter clothes and this bin is 18 month summer clothes. Where is that other bin? Oh, I know, it must be in the same place as my SANITY.
Anyone have something resembling this in your house??
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| Before and after. Or as I like to call the first picture, the 7th level of Hell. |
So as I was planning to do "the big switch" last week (and my goal was only to get through the 1 year old and 4 year old, mind you), the anticipatory dread was palpable. I put it off and put it off, complaining to my husband all the while. I knew I had a blog post in the making - a platform for my ranting. As I was stockpiling the ammunition that would fuel my tirade, I started thinking that there had to be a better way to approach this. It's so much a part of our nature to see the negative in situations. But I really want to be more positive in my life, and set that example for my children. So I tried looking at it in a different way and here are the 6 things I learned about the time of year previously known as Hand-Me-Down Hell:
1. We want for nothing. (Relatively speaking. Of course I want pretty new things as much as the next person, but we don't need them.) We are blessed to live a life where my kids could go a week (probably two) and not wear the same thing twice.
2. We have been the beneficiary of some really awesome hand-me-downs from other people. For a while, I think people assumed that with 5 daughters, we must have an over-abundance of girl clothes. But what article of clothing, aside from a chainmail or coat of armor, would survive being worn by 5 toddlers?? Nothing ever makes it down to the last one. Heck, most stuff rarely makes it past #2. So I am extremely grateful to the legions of people who have given us things over the years. Aside from the practicality of needing to replace clothes that are worn or stained, honestly it's just nice to have something different. Our daughters are basically all two years apart. Do you know what that means? When a particular item of clothing becomes a favorite, I could pretty much be looking at that same item every other year for 13 years. So yes, I get really sick of looking at the same clothes. (First World problems, I know.) But this brings me to my next, somewhat contradictory point...
3. Ah, the memories. There is something special and sentimental about pulling out a special dress that #1 wore on her 2nd birthday, #3 wore for #4's baptism, or #2 wore on the first day of preschool. Getting to see another baby or toddler wearing something that I loved watching her big sister wear is like getting a second chance to burn it into my memory. God's video camera, replaying my life. This is something that even the kids have come to appreciate. I'll hear comments like, "I remember when Tess wore that shirt!" or, "That used to be my very favorite sweater. Nana gave it to me for my birthday!"
4. My kids can learn about consumerism. There's no denying that we live in an age and in a society where we use something and throw it away, buy something else and use it and throw it away, buy something else and use it and throw it away, and on and on. Things are even manufactured in a way (planned obsolescence) so that they need replacing at regular intervals. My children can learn that just because something is older (not bought this calendar year), it's not bad. It's good to recycle and reuse things whenever we can. We don't always have to have the latest and greatest because some advertiser says we should have it. I think there's a certain amount of humility in that as well.
5. My kids can learn about charity. They learn this, not only from being the beneficiaries of clothes from others, but in seeing what we do with our surplus. When there are things we don't need or that have been replaced by something newer via a gift or hand-me-down, we don't just throw it away. It gets bagged up and brought to Good Will. My kids have known from a very young age that's where we bring their old toys and stuffed animals for kids who don't have any.
6. My sister rocks. First of all, she is an amazing motivator. She makes me pick a date to go through clothes and put it on my calendar. (Yes, Type A here. If it's on the calendar, of course that means I MUST do it.) Secondly, she actually comes to my house and does it with me. You heard me. She willingly puts herself in the line of fire when I'm throwing clothes across the room and swearing about why and how we have accumulated 8 pairs of size 18 month jeans - what toddler needs that many. (I don't even own close to that.) Granted, a lot of times I'm passing things her way and vice versa. Between the two of us, there are only 2 boys, but 8 girls in a span of 11 years. She does often walk out the door after one of our marathon sessions with a few bags or bins of things for her own kids, but I still think she goes way above and beyond the call of duty. I am always so grateful to have such a great sister, and even more grateful that she lives 2 minutes away.
Of course there are all the other small benefits, too... the sense of accomplishment of completing a monster task, the satisfaction of weeding through my life and cutting out the excess baggage, and the signaling of the transition to fall - my favorite time of year, with windows open, beautiful colors, and crisp fragrant air. So the next time I hear The Guess Who singing "Don't give me no hand-me-down shoes", I'm going to turn the radio off and smile with my uber positive thoughts.
