Spring is the time for many things; birds and flowers, early gardens and
erratic weather, and of course the Children's Wardrobe Review. Each Spring I get
out the box of clothes that I put away the previous Fall, and see what is
actually still usable, what can be passed along to those with smaller children,
and what is more suitable for the trash. Sometimes things make it into storage
more as a way of discouraging the use of sandals in December, or taking a
favorite-but-too-worn garment out of circulation. At the same time, I review the
items in the closet and drawers, making the same assessments and spiriting
winter clothing away for Fall.
This Spring's review began with the discovery that almost everything I
put away in the Fall was too small for our use. One box went to friends, and
another will go to my sister. This is Re-use at its best since I get to see
encore performances of the outfits my girls enjoyed. My girls are wearing sizes
7-8 now, but somehow we discovered a size 4 pair of pajamas still in
circulation. They were threadbare and dingy gray instead of the vibrant red and
white ladybug pattern they began as. The collar was stretched out, there were
holes in the chest where they'd been chewed, and the hem was starting to come
loose. I threw them in the pile for trash.
"But Mom, can't we give them to Emma??"
"Ummmm...no." The thought of anyone seeing the tatters my child wore the
previous night stunned me.
"But Mom, what will you do with them??"
"Throw them away?"
"What a waste of perfectly good fabric!!" There was exasperation in her
voice.
Ahhhhh...my budding environmentalist! Gray ladybug rags, anyone?
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