As brand new parents, the best gift that was given to us was two very large black trash bags of hand-me-down clothing.
A few days after giving birth, a close friend of mine showed up at our house. Brand new second baby in tow. Carrying two sacks full of clothing and a box of diapers her child had out grown. At the time, she said she was done having babies, this comment was mostly induced by the severe lack of sleep she was experiencing at the time. However, her action was appreciated none the less.
You see, my hubby and I can’t exactly afford to buy every outfit on the market for our child. With student loans, graduate school, and the fact that we both work in the school district, our extra cash isn’t abundant. At the time, our newborn had the minimum amount of outfits that I thought we could survive a week with.
I was largely underestimating how many blow-outs he’d have.
Especially that one nasty blow-out I’ll never forget that covered not only me, but shot across the bedroom.
But I digress.
Those sacks of hand-me-down clothing not only let me wait to wash baby clothes once a week. It also contained everything I needed for the first six months of a constantly growing baby.
I actually don’t recall buying him any clothing that was a “need” until after a year, if I’m being honest.
Over the past two and a half years we have had more clothing handed down to us from various friends. Just because they are lovely moms. Not because they knew we actually could really use it. I never told anyone that, except my mother.
The blessing of giving your hand-me-down baby clothing to a friend is something special and never taken for granted.
Which is why I now have tubs of old baby clothing stacked in the closet because if we have another child and it isn’t a boy, some lovely mom will be receiving over two years worth of a wardrobe for free.
I don’t want to sell what I’ve bought and especially not the clothing I’ve been given. Usually I’d donate clothing items, but not with baby clothing.
Nope, because those little outfits are expensive and if I can bless some exhausted new mom with a ton of clothing, I surely will.
I want to encourage you to do the same. Find a new mom in your circle of friends, church family, co-workers, or a friend of a friend and gift them a bunch of baby clothing. I promise you, they will appreciate it.
