hand-me-downs.

because i'm an only child, i never had the whole 'hand me down' issues that you will see played out on TV. i never felt that i had it better than others because i had new clothes, quite the contrary. when i moved to NY in High school, i made friends with a girl that had tons of sisters and brothers. when i was given a bag of clothes to 'see if there was anything i wanted'....i felt an odd sensation...like i'd 'made it'. i felt like i belonged to something bigger than clothes hanging in the closet with tags on them. they were soft and shrunk and worn to the perfect condition. it was like putting jammies on that you've had forever. it was like i was being offered the opportunity to take place in the history of someones closet. weird i know....dramatic i know.....blame my mom!

anyway, when i started having children of my own, i found that shopping at gently used clothing stores got you the whole preshrunk soft as jammies feel,,but it was when i started getting boxes from friends with girls just a little bit older than mine that i got to have that ol' feeling again. now, i'm not just nostalgic about the whole thing, there is an art and political positioning when getting into the loop of hand me downs. there ARE those families that, well, purchase in the Ralph section that you LOVE to get boxes from. Those boxes always come with a shirt or pair of pants that you want to have on hand when you need to dress your kid to kill. then there are your loyal passer-onners. those friends that after a couple of years you come to look forward to boxes twice a year. you know i'm talking about you Amy Z. those boxes that you know come complete with jammies, coats and gloves, AND Church clothes..sox to!
and of course any mother worth her weight will COVET the boxes that come with HOLIDAY wear and Costumes!!!!! I just love it that my wee ones have Holiday wear for this fall. this week when i sent mr K to school in a sweater that has pumpkins and spiders on it i felt so 'with it'. ha!!
well, a couple years ago my good friend Bud sent me a box that had costumes in it! Halloween is HER holiday...so i covet her hand-me-downs for that reason!! :) in the box was this fabulous Sully costume...i've waited a long time to put this on someone...i've kept it hung up in my front closet for i'm sure three years..i got it out last night and looky looky...my big boy!!! isn't it too cute!! it beats spider man any day don't you think??? Thanks Bud!!


My girls have come to know hand me downs. heck, we've only purchased uniforms one time..that was first grade (well, this year we had to again) but you get into the loop for uniforms and you only purchase filler items. in addition, as the girls have gotten older, the circle of friends have expanded and there are older girls that provide a bag or two every so often. my girls get all excited and sit in the middle of the floor to go through and see what will fit and what they like.
ms. V and i even went to the local consignment shoppe to get jeans. Can anyone argue with going in search of pre worn jeans??? the benefits go without saying.

so i wonder, will my girls one day lament about the fact that they were raised with hand me downs? will they make silent promises to their newborns never to subject them to hand me downs?
will they make fun of me at the Christmas dinner table?
will i be able to defend myself by insisting that it was the GREEN thing to do? that Al Gore made me promise to hand me down...
and you know, even if they do...i pray that they eventually find their way into the Hand me down loop. there is just something communal about it.
something so...right!