"The Clothes"

Happy belated Easter to all.  The sun is shining bright and we've cracked 45 degrees here in New York State.  Ah, the sun on my face has felt extraordinary. 

Today, I'm shipping out a few boxes to a wonderful friend.  For the past decade, four women (myself, my sister-in-law, one of my best friends from childhood and her very dear older sister) have traded and saved all of our maternity clothes.  This tradition began after I had my oldest two munchkins, and my sister-in-law was pregnant with her first.

I packed up all my maternity clothes (as friends do) and sent them her way.  What happened next was the beginning of a fabulous, economical system of clothes rotation.  She added to my clothes, and when one of my best friends from childhood got pregnant, we sent them to her.  She then added what she bought to the bins, and sent them back to me.  When her sister got pregnant with her first, we sent the bins to her.  Then they went back to my sister-in-law.  And then back to my friend, and then me, and, well, you get the idea.

What we have now is bags and bags of maternity clothes.  With all the trading and saving, anytime one of us gets pregnant whoever had the bins of maternity wear last must pass them on.

The bins and bags have become known to all of us as "the clothes."  I have had many calls that sound just like this,

"Who has "the clothes"? 

Last night, I went through four large bags of "the clothes" in preparation to send them off today to the latest expecting mom.  For the record, it is NOT me or my sister-in-law.

I weeded out anything with stains, anything that was discolored or fraying, and anything that was so old it looked like a rag (we've been trading for over ten years now).  What is left is two large bags of fabulous tanks, tops, jeans, swimsuits and dresses.

Today, these goodies ship out and the tradition of "the clothes" continues.

After all, sharing is caring.

Happy Monday.  Happy Spring.  Happy everything to everyone reading.  Much love to you!