Pay It Forward

The kindness of strangers always intrigues me. Take last weekend. I took the kids to the park. We had the entire park to ourselves for about 45 minutes before a woman came with her daughter. My boys were slightly more raucous than normal that day, and from my perception this woman was looking at my family in what I thought was a look of terror and horror. I felt a bit defensive, but I knew my boys were being loud and reckless, and honestly I had given up on much order and rule that day. I took them to the park for the purpose of letting them "get it all out." Twenty minutes and lots of wrestling, jumping around, screaming, and beating their chests later, this woman came over and asked me if they were all mine. I laughed and said yes. And here's the part where if I could have stuck my entire foot in my mouth I would have. This woman explained to me that she only had one child and she could only imagine the cost of buying them all clothes, amongst everything else. She then told me she just cleaned out her daughter's closet and was about to donate the clothes, but would love to give them to me if I had room to store them.
Jerk. I felt ashamed for jumping to conclusions, and annoyed at myself for judging someone. I speak to my children often about lessons like this. Do not judge a book by it's cover, and all that jazz, and here I was doing the complete opposite.
I learned my lesson well.
On the subject of passing along clothes, I need to make a point to say how lucky I have been. I am a stickler for saving the boys clothes, and have many boxes and bins and Nathan's aggravation to prove it. I love the memories some of these clothes hold. I have stored a few of my favorites away in the hopes that they will be worn by my grandchildren some day, and create all new memories, but I have passed on the rest. A very good friend of mine, (who has passed on some of her daughters things to Keira) said it perfectly, "you get what you give in life." I could not agree more.
I have been lucky to receive clothes from a few friends, and it is like Christmas when these exchanges occur. Not only do we save money, but we get to see these clothes carry on with someone we know will put them to good use.
After lots of saving of clothes, it is an absolutely freeing feeling to just simply pass them all on this time around.