So you may or may not know, but I hate to spend money. And I hate to shop. I know I'm not a typical girl.
Lately I've been finding all kinds of things that I need to buy. I go in fazes. I don't buy anything for a long time, and then suddenly there is a ton I need to get.
Last week I learned that I need some more maternity clothes. I have been feeling really uncomfortable in my maternity clothes and wondered why. Then last Saturday, I put on a pair of maternity jeans I hadn't worn yet in this pregnancy. I had put off wearing them, because the last time I was pregnant they were really big, and didn't really fit until later in my pregnancy. But they were the only maternity pants I had clean, so I put them on. And guess what? They fit! It suddenly made sense to me, why nothing esle was comfortable. It was all too small. And if they are too small at 4 months, I can only imagine how they will fit at 9 months. And let me tell you, on average, maternity clothes are not cheap.
Cinderella has out grown her tennis shoes. She has been wearing crock type shoes all summer. But it is getting a bit cold and wet for those kind of shoes to be practical anymore.
My children have outgrown or lost their winter accessories. So we need new gloves and hats.
And last but not least. Guy. He is almost 21 months old, and is still small enough to wear size 12 month clothes. However, I know he has got to be on the verge of needing the next size up.
When we visited my family in August, my parents neighbor was getting rid of a bunch of little boy clothes, and so I came home with a box full of 18 month size clothes. I took them and I washed them, along with the clothing from a box in the closet that was labeled 18 month boy clothes. After they were washed and I was sorting through them, I had a large pile of shirts, and a large pile of pants.
Then I noticed that all of the stuff that had come out of the box in the closet wasn't 18 month size. It was 24 month or 2T size. So I gathered all the 2T and 24 month stuff, and put it back in the closet. Then I didn't have a lot of time or energy for a while, so the piles of 18 month clothes, that were not needed right away, stayed in piles on top of the kids dresser.
Well, time went by, and I had a friend request 9-12 month size boy clothes. So I pulled those out of the closet, and made some piles of those, on a different spot, on the top of the dresser. However I never remembered to get them to her. So they stayed there. Also I started to get lazy, and stopped hanging Guy's clothes in the closet. Most of them made it into the drawer, but a good portion of them ended up (you guessed it) on top of the dresser. So by this time, the top of the dresser was a big mess of clothes, and none of it was really organized anymore.
One day I kind of looked through it, and realized I only had 2 shirts that were 18 month size there. "What happened to all of those shirts I had?" I wondered. I wasn't sure if they had been misplaced in all of the time it took me to get back to the clothes, or if they had all been the larger size that had been put back in the closet.
Also since that time, Guy has started showing interest in potty training. We aren't seriously doing anything about it right now, but I am wanting to get it so that he is not wearing so many shirts that snap over the diaper. So I felt like I also needed to buy a bunch of 18 month shirts for Guy. And I knew that could cost a fortune.
Well yesterday we were getting ready to go shopping for some of these things that we needed, and I decided I should take an inventory of what colors and styles of pants we have for Guy in the 18 month size so that I can get shirts to match. To do so, I decided I needed to clean up the whole mess on top of the dresser. So I started putting things away. When I got to the 9-12 month size clothes, I decided it has probably been long enough that my friend has probably already gotten clothes that size and doesn't need these ones. So I needed to put them away.
But before I could put them away, I needed to find a place to put them. So I started pulling boxes out of the closet, to see if I had any that had clothing too small for Guy, and room in the box for more. Well while I was cleaning out, I discovered a treasure. I opened a large Rubbermaid type tote, and found it half full of 18 month boy clothes. Pants, shirts, PJ's. Some of it was even brand new stuff, that I had received for baby shower presents and forgotten about.
It was a wonderful feeling to discover this box. It was like putting on a pair of pants you haven't worn for a while, and when you reach your hand in the pocket, you discover a $5 bill that you put there forever ago and forgot about. It was so nice to realize that I didn't need to buy those clothes. I still had a lot I did need to get, and we got that taken care of. But I didn't need to buy any 18 month size clothes, and that is great!
Now we just have to see how long it takes him to actually fit into that size.
4 comments:
I was so glad when my last came and I could finally get rid of all those clothes. I had all girls while everyone else around had boys so I didn't get to lend clothes out to others very often. You asked if the type of toys your children play with are parent induced. I had 5 daughters and did not have one that was a frilly doll playing. I had one that loved cars and playing in the dirt... as they got older they played with a neighbor girl who loved dressing up so then they got into that. My grandson loved dolls (much to his father's dismay) when he was younger, but he has an older and younger sister. As he gets older he is getting into the boy things but I notice this when he was with his boy cousins. Maybe it's who they hang out with.
This is just too funny! I know that you are really a quiet person until someone gets to know you and even then you can still be a bit shy. So I love it when you get on here and blog and go all out on your stories! I REALLY enjoy reading your blog. Thank you!
I love that you compared it to finding $5 in something that you haven't worn in awhile because it's so true! I love finding clothes that I haven't worn in awhile that are hidden in the back of my closet. It doesn't happen very often but it's like you found something new to wear.
i love that! we have been fortunate enough to get hand me downs in all different sizes, so I love finding the new size and seeing what they get to wear next. Now that Lydia is bigger, though, we haven't had anything like that for quite a while. We do LOTS of thrift store shopping!
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