Share, share, share

Shortly after Emily was born, my girlfriend Karen contacted me and offered to share with me the clothes that she had used for her daughter. These were clothes that she received from another friend of hers after that friend's 4 daughters were done with them. Karen used them with her daughter, shared them with a mutual friend and her daughter as well as another friend's twin daughters and then passed them along to me.

Some of the clothes that Emily (and now Lucy) wear have been worn, used and loved by 8 girls before they got to us. And for the most part, the clothes have been in near perfect condition.

Kids grow so incredibly fast that it just doesn't make any sense for a new parent to go out and buy an all-new wardrobe for their child. Most times, you can find perfectly acceptable used clothing and toys at yard sales, consignment shops, or, like me, from a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend.

I cannot tell you what a blessing it has been to know that I have a basement full of clothes for both girls. I do typically buy them some new things for each size, partly because I want to and partly because there are some gaps in the used stuff I have. For some reason, I almost always have to buy pajamas in any given size.

And now that I am nearly 100% certain our family is complete, I am starting to consider what to do with the things that both kids have outgrown. Some things will be kept for sentimental reasons, but more and more I think I will share the remainder of my stuff on a service like Zwaggle. Zwaggle helps you get rid of the things you no longer need and use the points you accumulate to trade for things you want. It's a win-win.

This post was brought to you by the Parent Bloggers Network and Zwaggle. Use that link to sign up for Zwaggle and get extra Zwaggle points (zoints) to use toward your first transaction.