Swap the Old for the Old, But Different

As publicity coordinator of my local Mothers of Preschoolers group, I am in charge of sending out all the emails and notifying members of our events, among other things. I just finished emailing my group about one of my most favorite events that we do - the Clothing Swap!
I LOVE clothes! I love buying clothes for myself, and before my son was even born, I was stockpiling cute little outfits for him. My dad once told me that when I was working retail in clothing shops, it was like an alcholic working as a bartender! That is how bad I am :)
So needless to say, I am constantly going through my son's drawers, finding outfits that he's outgrown and trying to figure out what to do with them - outside of just bagging them up and putting them in the attic.
Thankfully, every year about this time, my MOPS group has our clothing swap. This is my chance to take those clothes that he outgrew during the year and trade them in for clothes in his size - or a year or so bigger for future use. This year I will be swapping a lot of 2T stuff for 4T or 5T toddler clothes.
Of course there are those items that I cannot part with. You know, the baptismal outfit, the Easter outfit, the first Christmas outfit. And alot of clothes now go to my one-year-old nephew. But the others, I'm more than happy to give to my friends, while taking their kids' clothes off of their hands.

Here are some more ways to "get rid" of that pile of outgrown clothes that are spilling over your child's drawers and closets:

* Pass them down to siblings/other family members/friends
* Give them to the Goodwill or DAV
* Make a little extra change by selling them at a yard sale
* Make even less change by selling them to a consignment shop
* Cut them up and get a little crafty with them - turn a baby sweater into a miniature pillow
* Have the really special items mounted in a shadow box and hung on the wall

I'd love to hear what you do with your outgrown kids' clothes. Leave a comment with a tip or unique idea.

No One Tells You About ...

the Tough Three-And-a-Halfs! When you're a new mom you hear all sorts of horror stories about the terrible twos. But now one warns you about the real age when your child starts defying all of your requests and his ears totally turn off to your voice.

My three-and-a-half year old son has been a nearly perfect child since even before he was born. I had an extremely easy pregnancy working every day at my job until the day I went into labor. I never even had morning sickness. The birth was just as wonderful - fairly short and sweet for my first child. Reagan has always had a calm and kind demeanor, and for the most part has taken mom and dad's words as the gospel. That is until now.

It's like one day my toddler went from barely sitting on the "Naughty Time Out Step" to being placed there for most the day. He suddenly has forgotten his name - at least when I call it - and his hearing has diminished to only working when the words "ice cream" or "candy" are spoken.

My once easy child now spits, kicks, screams and hits when Mommy or Daddy says something he doesn't want to hear. And the words "Love you Mommy," have been replaced with "Leave Me Alone Mommy."

Now that I'm going through this stage with my toddler friends are starting to admit that they to have been here. It seems like I have at least another year of battles, according to the few people who have walked this path before me.

At least there are some glimmers of the pre- tough three-and-a-half year old child. For now I hold onto the random "You're my best friend, Mommy," and "Great Job, Mommy." I remind myself that there are many phases that I will go through with my son and that we will make it through them all.

So now I'm asking you guys for help. I need to know that I'm not just one of the handful of women I've found so far who have found the three-and-a-halfs to be tougher than the twos. I would love for you to leave a comment with a brief story about your child's 3.5 stage. You women with older children who have been through this, please share how you made it through -a tip, trick or advice would be great!

I'll be offering a $5 gift certificate to My Little Monkey Boutique to one lucky person by using random.org to pick a winner from the comments. All you have to do is comment to be entered!

I'll also give a free Time Management for Moms Ebook to the person who comments with the best tip, trick or advice on how to make it through this tough stage without pulling all of your hair out!

The winners will be chosen Friday, Feb. 29th and announced Saturday, March 1!