Today we received a bag of hand-me-down clothes. It was very fun. The kids love to go through and see what’s what and try things on. B got some much needed snow boots and C got a great winter jacket and some snow pants that he should be able to use next year.
It reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend a while back about feelings of guilt associated with hand-me-downs. I personally have no problem with gently used passed on items but this friend was feeling guilty at not being able to buy new items for her children.

It got me thinking… my kids are not disappointed with used things, in fact they seem to be quite happy just to receive something that they perceive as new. So why do we as adults assume guilt? If someone is happy why should we project our feelings onto them and make them doubt themselves?

Isn’t this outlook exactly what has gotten us into this financial mess. Why do we need to get our internal value from what we own/have? Why do people spend more than they make and live beyond their means in order to “look good” but feel owned by their stuff? I know more than a few people who work so much to pay for their things that they don’t have a chance to enjoy themselves.

So from now on I’m going to make more of an effort not to project these values and feelings onto my children or others. I want my children to learn to appreciate all that they can without comparing what they have and themselves to others. My wish is for them is to grow up loving themselves and valuing other people and their experiences over their possessions.

On a side note in the process of writing this post I found a great flickr group, Recycle Remake Redesign Re-craft Reuse Recreate Reclaim Reduce. Great inspiration for using old stuff!