Sunday, January 9, 2011

Hand Me the Hand-Me-Downs!

I drop stuff off at this bin all the time!

I love hand-me-downs. There I said it. I'll admit, when I had my first son over 4 years ago, I couldn't help but buy stuff for him. We have friends who had boys and we were given a huge stash of lightly used clothing early on. While I was grateful for it, I still had a shower where I received a massive amount of adorable boys clothing in addition to stuff I bought myself. Monkey had SO many clothes, and grew so fast that some of the items were barely worn. When I say barely, I mean, I put it on to take a photo and that was it. Some items he grew out of before he had a chance to wear them.

It seemed only right when 28 months later I gave birth to another boy. I saved everything. Unless it was stained or too worn (which was not often the case unless it was a hand-me-down), I kept it. Of course, Monkey was born in July and Buddha in November so the seasons were a little bit off. But for the most part all the basics were perfectly good for the Bude. I was thankful that I had saved all of these clothes, because when I was 7 mos. pregnant the mortgage lender where I had worked for 4 years abruptly closed down. I was hugely pregnant and jobless. Of course, I had planned to take a maternity leave, but had also planned to return to work in a few months and our household relied heavily on my income. I'll save that whole saga for another post and leave it at that. But the heart of the matter is that I now needed these clothes, more than ever. Even though I bought the Bude a few new items (like, he had to have a new homecoming outfit) he really didn't need anything else. I even re-used Monkey's nursery stuff - furniture AND decor. Sure I felt a little bad that I couldn't/shouldn't go out and give him a whole new room that was just his own, but I knew it was sensible. He wasn't going to know or care that he inherited his brother's nursery. Plus, based on my experience with Monkey, I didn't think he'd be in a "baby" room for long.

Monkey matured very quickly. He was bright and articulate very young and never much cared for his crib. By the time he was 2 he was in a bed and we redecorated his room to a "big boy" room. Turns out things are a little different for Buddha, he is still our baby, loooves his crib likes its his whole universe even though he is a big boy for his age and is probably ready for a bed. We just bought him a mattress, and I've bought bedding, and some other decor items but we have yet to purchase the furniture but are getting close.

But I digress. (I have a habit of digressing). In addition to his brother's hand-me-downs, we also get clothes from a cousin of his who is a few years older. Some of the clothes fit Monkey, but most of the time when we get the clothes they are just a tad too small for him and just perfectly too big for Buddha. I love this. And I love giving away my boys clothes and I know that I have taken very good care of them. I have meticulous laundry habits, except for the fact I hate to iron and pretty much don't do it unless its absolutely necessary. I feel that we are being kind to our environment by not "wasting" perfectly good clothes, by not adding more to the landfills and helping to reduce gasses emitted from manufacturing new clothing items. Whenever I get a hand-me-down with a stain or a tear, or have an item to give away in that condition, I take it to a nearby clothing and shoe recycling bin. These things are amazing, as the fabric can be recycled which helps the planet, if it can't be used for others in the community. I try not to give to places that turn around and sell the clothes, I prefer churches and community organizations that give to the needy, if not someone I know personally.

I don't really use shoes that have been passed down to us, unless they are in "barely used" condition. Especially when the boys were younger, I had read that it was important for children to break in their own shoes so as not to influence how they walked. I think of all the children in our country and other countries who live without shoes, and always donate the shoes we receive or recycle them.

Do you give or accept gently used children's clothing? Do you exchange or share clothing through friends, community, clothing swap parties? 

13 comments:

  1. I loved the hand me downs for my girls but I really love hand me downs for me... I was little the "stone wash jeans" started when I was in Junior High, so my cousins hand me down jeans where softer then the stores'.... I have allergies to many different things , polyester, rayon and wool.... so it was a frenzy of my cousin and I looking threw the clothes....

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  2. I will say it as well I love hand me downs! There is nothing wrong with that at all, my children get stuff from my wife's sister all the time & most often the clothes they get are brand names that we likely would not buy for them. In that sense it's a win-win situation; they get the name brands & our wallet gets a break!

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  3. LOL. I have a terrible habit of digressing too ;)
    Thanks for linking up!

    adventuresinestrogen.blogspot.com

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  4. Awesome post! I'm super-thrilled to have two boys for the hand-me-down process! Over here at thredUP we're excited any time we find new folks getting on the keepin' it green bandwagon. ~ Sara at thredUP

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  5. I am also a huge fan of hand-me-downs and when my son was born I was given more clothing then I knew what to do with. Like you, there were many outfits I just threw on him quickly to take a photo of him in and then there were the outfits that never got worn at all. Oops. I was certain when I got pregnant with our second child it was going to be another boy so then we'd get use out of any of the clothes we didn't use before. Nope, I had a girl. And now I find myself going through the same thing over again haha. I also don't really use used shoes for the same reasons.

    Whenever my kids grow out of something I gladly hand them along to the next new mom. Except for the occasional outfit that I have a weird emotional attachment too. LOL.

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  6. So funny- I don't do hand-me-down shoes either, but I LOVE all things hand me down. I was just going through my Monkey's clothes today- swapping out small stuff to give back to my hand-me-down partner. I have an older girl and younger boy, and my friend has older twin boys and a younger girl, so we swap clothes (and then I return hers to give to her sister-in-law's twins). It's the best, especially when the kids are little and growing all the time. Why not re-use clothes and save money and do good for the planet? And it makes me feel great to be able to help my friend as much as she helps me.

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  7. Oh my gosh, my friend has a daughter two years older than Wee 'Burb, and I am so thankful EVERY DAY for her because I don't have to really buy any new clothes for Wee 'Burb. I buy a few things for special occasions like her birthday.

    Since we did not know when I was pregnant if we were having a boy or girl, we did a very neutral nursery. We expect and hope to use it when we get around to having baby #2.

    While clothes are super cute, they are such a waste of money when the kids wear it so infrequently.

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  8. I'm also a little creeped out by used shoes. Except for las week when I found adorable almost-new $90 shoes for $3. I made an exception. We donate to our crisis pregnancy center (who provides maternity and baby clothes to the clients) or to a local thrift store whose proceeds benefit the autism community.

    Thanks for stopping by Stinker Babies! I'm looking forward to reading more here. =)

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  9. Honestly, I don't yet. Only bc I only have 1 and he gets so many gifts and I enjoy shopping for him and building his little wardrobe. The second kid, all the way!

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  10. Hand-me-downs are great! I have been fortunate enough to get quite a few for my twins from other twin Moms which is great considering we have the expense of two babies at once! :-)

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  11. I LOVE hand-me-downs, LOVE them, I love going trough the bags or boxes, its like Christmas to me! we fortunately have several friends that have older boys, so we get them often, Now I am super picky about what i keep and what Landon wears. They just our grow them so fast at this age, I really cant see spend 15-20 on a shirt or jeans that will only be worn once or twice!

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  12. Thanks for the follow- following right back www.classifiedmom.com

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  13. I love hand me downs. We got hand me downs for our daughter from family and friends and it helped so much! Now...I wish I could have the courage to ask my friends who buy a new wardrobe every season or so for hand me downs for me. Hehehe!

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