Spring Cleaning with Special Meaning

Hope you had a terrific Easter weekend. It was a blessed but hectic one for me. I needed yesterday to recover!

One of my many tasks this weekend was finding just the right Easter outfits for my children. They were going to be visiting their Grandmom and Grandpoppy's church for the first time, so I couldn't have them looking any old way, right?

Well I was successful in finding clothes that sufficiently met the "Easter cute criteria" (though as their mother, I would find them just as adorable swaddled in burlap and raffia), and after having served their purpose, these specialty pieces are now hanging in the closet where they will likely remain if ever they are worn again before being outgrown.

The ability to just go to the store and buy outfits for my children, or have clothing provided by friends and family who love us, is a blessing that is not soon lost on me. Many are not as fortunate.

Chaffin, a volunteer with the Dekalb County CASA Program and Juvenile Court, reminds me of this fact. She is currently putting together a clothes bank for foster mothers where they can get and exchange clothing for children placed in their care. She will be collecting donated clothing and children's items this Thursday from a Moms group to which I belong.

Reality: foster moms tend to receive children in the middle of the night or on very short notice. Often these moms do not have suitable clothing or other needed items at the immediate moment and it can get costly to acquire them.

Given all this, I have been working at the challenge to part with the darling, beloved pieces that I have been holding onto for so long that crowd my little ones' dresser drawers, closets and hampers, so that others might benefit.

This has not been an easy process for me--this letting go--as my rational head that says, "Into the 'donate' pile it goes! They've outgrown it and will never wear it again!" battles my sentimental heart that counters, "Ohhhh... this was his/her first_________. I can mount this in a shadow box and display it..."

OK:

A) I'm not crafty. I've never mounted anything in a shadow box in my life. If I didn't do such things when time was on my side and the only person I was responsible for was myself, who am I kidding now?

B) I live in a house, not a museum, and that's where I'd have to dwell to reasonably display the 50+ outfits I'm trying to hold onto and consider for this grand installation.

So the head (deservedly so) wins and the heart gets to keep one outfit for each child, consoled by the fact that we have TONS of photos that capture the babies in these outfits, so the memory is indeed preserved.

So Chaffin, get ready. I've got some packages for ya....

And with that I should note a consideration Chaffin passed along that made me take pause:

She requested that if at all possible, we put our items in something other than trash bags, as such a presentation can be demoralizing to the children who receive them.

Think about that. When you receive something, whether purchased or presented as a gift, doesn't the bag or the box say something to you? I know I'm not the only one who stashes specialty shopping bags from stores or gift totes because they're attractive and essentially say, "You're special and appreciated."

Imagine how a child feels if all he/she ever receives, if anything, is given to them in a garbage bag.

Hmmmm.

Chaffin, pretty bags and boxes: for reminding me of the blessing of my bounty, and giving me the win-win opportunity to share it lovingly and attractively with others, you've just been added to The Thanks Ranks.