Hand Me Downs

I am wondering if I should even blog about it, for fear I jinx this huge blessing.

One of my projects while I was off work all last week was to clean out the kids' closets. Well, we all know how there are some kind of magic rays in the summer sun that makes our kids shoot up like bean sprouts. Mine are no exception. After going through Olivia's closet, there were maybe five long sleeved shirts that I thought might fit next winter; a couple of jackets; some tee shirts, and some shorts. Over half the closet was empty, and there were probably 50 empty hangers.

Of all the zillions of ways Olivia is sassy beyond her years, she hasn't really caught on to the whole shopping for clothes thing. Don't get me wrong, she loves clothes, and will try on ten different outfits until it looks just right. But she hasn't started asking to go shopping, and hasn't discovered any of the trendy expensive stores yet...obviously, because I don't take her there, and her older siblings are brothers.

A friend of mine at work has a daughter who is a few years older than Olivia, and she has begun giving me her hand-me-downs. The cool thing is that they are close enough in age that the clothes are still "cool". Yesterday she gave me a huge trash bag full of clothes - and praise the fashion gods, they all fit. Maybe a little faded, but all totally hip and in good shape.

Olivia was OVER THE MOON. It was like Christmas. It was so joyful watching her go through that bag - she honestly didn't know the difference. It's like we were at the cash register at Limited Too buying every cute outfit on the rack.

Hurrah! If only my naive shopper could stay that way just a little bit longer. My fingers are crossed.