Hand-Me-Downs

We are blessed to be on the receiving end of hand-me-downs. I have a cousin who passes lots of stuff our way from her three kids. My sister-in-law has given us stuff too. I am a huge fan of hand-me-downs for kids. For that matter I am also a huge fan of thrift stores (not the creepy ones!). I see no reason to buy brand new kids clothes when most of the time I can get them second hand.


Moms know that our children will wear a particular clothing item for a few months at most before it no longer fits. This requires almost entirely new wardrobes with each change of season. That can get awfully expensive. Thankfully that's where the hand-me-downs come in. Now all I have to do is buy whatever is needed to supplement the hand-me-downs. Sometimes there are more bottoms than tops, lots of pjs or none, socks or no socks.

I do draw the line at shoes though. Unless they came from the feet of a child I actually know, I will not put used shoes on my children. The thought of buying shoes at a thrift store gives me the heebie jeebies.

I've met people in my life who are squeamish about hand-me-downs. I am definitely not one of those people. As long as it can be washed in the washing machine, I'm fine with it. Besides, it's environmentally friendly which is an added bonus.

Also, I've heard that the hand-me-down flow naturally abates as children get older and begin to wear things longer, but I've so far refused to think about that too often.

How do you feel about hand-me-downs?