last minute drive into the city. 40 min. Great skyline.
Plus this helped with my Tank with drawl-
missing him after spending
spring break with him in Florida.
Next stop: free shopping with teens, shoe switcheroo, and Exhaustion
Sunday, March 15th:
1:30 pm - arrived at a resale for children's clothes. The resale organizers offer whatever is leftover from the sale to foster/adoptive parents FOR FREE. Sales happen twice a year. I've never been able to take the girls, because children aren't allowed - but this time, I realized that they are now old enough to join me.
Rae is crazy picky. Kay is less so, but I cannot predict what she'll turn up her nose at - letting them pick stuff they like is so much easier than me hauling stuff home and then finding out they aren't interested. I donate their castoffs to Amvets, but it's one less step. There's also nowhere to try stuff on, so even this time, some stuff didn't fit/work out.
We stood in line till the doors opened at 2:00 pm.
The line is like a Who's Who in the foster/adoption world of the Chicago suburbs. I see a lot of familiar faces.
There are also books, crafts, and games. They both really enjoyed 'shopping'. In typical Rae fashion, she commented twice at how much fun that was. Kay didn't mention it, but she enjoyed it. She was very excited once home that a bathing suit she liked fit perfectly. She's taking it to Florida.
Re-entry (even after almost 3 years!) to my 'real' life after a weekend away can be hard. A 45 minute car ride on our way to the sale with me describing how Tank hid when summoned to dance at the party, and how Mini hit Tank with a pillow for snoring, etc. was just the thing. Plus, chuckling together at some of the available items at the sale in addition to searching for finds was a good way to connect.
3:30 pm - We got home, I showered, and ate my lunch while the girls did a fashion show of their selections.
4:30 pm - Curly, Rae, Kay, and I drove to 5:30 mass at a different parish. On our way, Curly and I ran into a wake at a nearby funeral home for her teammate's grandpa. He'd been a patient of Coach's off and on for decades. Coach was trying to get home from Delaware, but it was getting dicey.
6:30 pm - Curly and I traded shoes in the pew after mass - a first. I didn't want to wear my suede shoes in the torrential downpour that I didn't realize was heading our way - thus Coach's delay in Charlotte. I ran through the puddles to get the car and picked the girls up at the door.
6:50 pm - as we pulled into the driveway, Reg texted about the car accident he and Thomas were in.
I watched the Oscar's kind of, but mostly edited an essay Curly wrote for a scholarship. I texted with Coach about his travels and had calls with Reg about where he was.
I'm guessing it will surprise no one that I was exhausted by the time I crawled into my bed, which I did once I knew Reg was a few minutes away from campus.
*****
Do you have a favorite clothing item that was free/handed down? Ever swap shoes, or go shoeless and tuck your prize shoes under a coat to keep them from the elements?
I have a flannel shirt that belonged to my grandfather (who died in 1998). I still wear it from time to time. It's an actual, legit Woolrich flannel that should last forever, and so far it has. I keep extra shoes in my car and under my desk - work boots at work for when I need to go into the warehouse, sandals and a pair of sneakers in my car, just in case. I don't swap shoes, my kids' feet are too small - they wear sizes 5, 6 and 7, while I'm in an 8.5.
ReplyDeleteKara - Those Woolrich flannel last a lifetime. I'm so glad you have that from your grandfather. There will never be any shoe swapping with K or R, as they have wack-a-doodle shoes sizes, but Curly and Mini and I are usually the same size.
DeleteWell I'm glad you weren't eaten my manatees! Offhand I can't think of any secondhand clothing items that are favorites.... and while my daughter occasionally steals some of my shoes, I can't really fit into hers because her feet are slightly smaller.
ReplyDeleteJenny - Ha ha. I miss my gentle giant neighbors and their free entertainment. My mom's feet were smaller than mine, but we often had to cope with sharing shoes that were too small for a special occasion here and there - back in the day, we usually only owned a pair of sneakers and then school shoes and maybe summer sandals. Thank heavens for all the discount shopping options nowadays.
DeleteI don't think I've ever traded shoes with anyone. EVER!
ReplyDeleteI love that the resale shop offers this day for foster/adoptive families; how lovely is that?
Girl, I don't know how you manage to do it all and not collapse before you get to bed!
I hope your Easter celebrations were fun!
I had a few shirts of my brothers years ago, but I think I finally let them all go. My girls just went to their grandpa's house and collected a few of his personal items: a sweater and a t-shirt that they are proudly wearing today in his honor. (It's his bday) I thought that was really sweet of them.
Suz - It was a funny thing to do - sit in the pew and trade shoes, but silly me for not checking the weather. I blame my crazy goal of driving to Grand Rapids and back in under 24 hours. The resale giveaway process is such a wonderful service. We've found a handful of treasures there. Unfortunately, there aren't as many things for my girls now that they are in women's sizes. There are racks and racks of clothes for smaller kids and it makes my heart happy seeing the little community of foster /adoptive parents that flock to the sales and get excited to find clothes for their littles. I've started to recognize familiar faces and sometimes we exchange stories while waiting in line.
DeleteHa. I do like to stay up late at night, but that doesn't tend to serve me well- so I've been trying to get into bed earlier. (last night aside, I've been doing well - that might not work once Mini, my late night buddy is home).
Easter was lovely - so much to celebrate. The girls in their new dresses - they were so excited.
I love that the girls selected a few things to remember their grandpa by. I don't have clothes from my grandparents, but I have a few other items. In my sewing box, I have the sign that my grandma used when she used to sell her little arts and crafts wares at sales. It's her name in her handwriting. I smile whenever I see it. She and I were cut from the same crafty cloth. ;)
What a marathon of a day! Glad the girls enjoyed the shopping.
ReplyDeleteI didn't swap shoes, but did switch dresses one with my sister at big important celebration.
My shoes didn't look right with my original dress, so we switched. (These days, I'd wear sneakers and ignore fashion.)
mbmom11 - It was a marathon of a day. The dress swap at a big celebration is hilarious. Mini and I swapped shoes last year as we approached a grad party, because we realized that our shoes looked better with the opposite outfit. Isn't it crazy how we suffered through party shoes for years and now anything goes?
DeleteThat’s wonderful that they give the clothing to foster & adoptive parents. And also great that the girls could go with you this time. When my kids were young I used to go to an amazing consignment store in a nearby (very high end) city. It was a grocery store that had been repurposed so it was huge. My boys are very close in age and were the same size (they were like 8-10 years old). The clothing was so great I had to let them each pick 1 item in order, then they’d get a second pick etc. now this was mid 90’s but I remember getting 4 or5 outfits for each of the 4 kids for maybe $150.
ReplyDeletePat - It is a great system to share the after math of the resale. I sort of dreaded taking the girls. I didn't want them to drag it out - want to take more than we needed, etc. I so relate to the shopping for a crowd at a great consignment shop. I used to run a garage sale at our parish school and when a bag of really good kids' clothes was opened, my volunteers would often wave me over to get first dibs.
DeleteI love that the clothing swap gives clothes free to adoptive/Foster families. It's so fun that Rae and Kay could go and try on their own clothes--sounds like a better system.
ReplyDeleteSam - I'm glad the girls got to come and select the stuff that interested them. It was fun to come away with a few good finds.
DeleteYay! I can comment! Some blogs are iffy on my computer for some reason, and this is one of them.
ReplyDeleteI love the clothing ‘sale’, and OMG, SO much easier when the girls can be with you to pick things that they like! I gave up buying my daughter clothes or jewelry YEARS ago. Now if I want to buy her something like that, I say, ‘shopping spree!’ And she picks it out and I pay for it.
Trading shoes…your story is nothing like mine, but it reminded me. When I was 20 or 21 and thought my hijinks were HILARIOUS, my friend and I thought it would be awesome to wear our ugliest shoes to the bowling alley, swap them for the bowling shoes, and then leave. So we did. Why was that funny? It certainly wasn’t nice. But we thought we were a big deal, let me tell you.
J - Sorry my blog is making it tough to comment. What a pain. Ugh.
DeleteI don't know what we did before we could shop with cameras - I send photos to Mini and Curly to ask if they like something, but that's not always a sure thing. Having them along is always easier, and more fun.
I'm cracking up at the bowling shoes story. That sounds like a blast from the past.
Your free shopping spree sounds like a wonderful bonding day! That's a great program. I used to get a lot of clothes handed down from my mom when she was working, and I loved it. Now she's retired and doesn't buy much, so I get nothing! I've never had an occasion to swap shoes!
ReplyDeleteMG Doodle - It was a great way to connect. A little adventure. I love a good hand me down situation. As the tallest and youngest of my parents' 3 girls, I inherited my sisters' clothes but they were too short and I hated that. My kids benefited from loads of hand me downs from cousins and friends over the years.
DeleteHow great is that policy of the secondhand store!? What a terrific thing to do for foster and adoptive parents. And since thrifting is a Trend now, they don't have to feel like they're doing something weird.
ReplyDeleteSmart idea to swap shoes! I had a colleague once who always left a pair of black heels and a pair of black flats in her desk. She often forgot to change out of her slippers (or that she was barefoot!) until she arrived at school. Those spare pairs got a bigger workout than you'd think.
Nance - It is a great set up and I love how it supports the foster parent community. We are never afraid to look for a good deal. When the girls switched to private school (and really loved the new school), they understood that financially we needed to tighten the purse strings.
DeleteI once arrived to the zoo with the kids when they were young and discovered that a tot didn't have any shoes, or one missing shoe? Well, thank goodness for a stroller and for no actual need for a shoe, but older than that- yeah, not really socially acceptable.
Most of my kids clothes are hand me downs! There are some real gems. Paul's favorite is a soccer kit; my favorite is a tommy Hilfiger quarter zip that both boys have worn. But there are so many great sweaters, jeans, etc. I love not having to spend money on clothes! And then we pass them off to the family on our block with a little boy that is 1.5 years younger than Will.
ReplyDeleteLisa - My kids benefited from so many bags of hand me downs. I remember so so many things that they treasured. I love returning the favor now, gifting the clothes to younger cousins. Full circle. We saved so much money on clothes over the years.
DeleteI just read your last few posts and I'm exhausted! How do you do it? You must be superwoman, or close to it.
ReplyDeleteThose manatees! I figured there might be one if you're lucky, but that was amazing!
Cindy - Ha. All weekends are not that involved and nutty. That one was one for the books. The small herd of manatees was so cool.
DeleteI wear a size 10 shoe, so I've never been able to swap shoes with anyone! I love that there is a free secondhand sale for foster/adoptees. It's nice to hear about great organizations who run stuff like this.
ReplyDeleteBijoux - I didn't figure you for a size 10 shoe. Yes, it is amazing that this children's resale invites foster/adoptive moms to come in and help themselves to all the leftovers. Such a great service. I wish other businesses would offer discounts or help to people taking in foster kids - discounts on hotel rooms or restaurant meals once in a while. Every little bit helps.
ReplyDelete