Night Elf Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Remember when I posted in January about my mom giving me a royal blue puffy vest coat? I wore it a couple of times when I had to take the dogs out in the backyard. I cannot wear it in public. So I'm putting together a bag of clothing donations today and I took a look at the vest. I really wanted to toss it in the bag, but I feel guilty if I do it so soon. I just know my mom is going to ask about it next year. So I'm going to keep it. However, I did finally let go of the bright yellow long sleeve shirt she bought me two years ago. I never wear it because it's just too darn bright. She's never asked about it though, so I feel okay giving it away. I think some people would be surprised to see our closet. DH and I really don't have a lot of clothes. At least twice a year we get rid of stuff but we very rarely bring anything in because we both hate to shop and we wear the same things over and over. So my closet is organized. The worst collection is DH's running shirts. Every 5K/10K he runs, they give away a tshirt. His drawer is stuffed! I told him he should go through them. He obviously never wears the ones on the bottom of the drawer. We'll see if he can part with them. Ds contributed the one long sleeve tshirt he had. He wears only short sleeve tshirts year round. Now I need dd to go through her stuff. Her closet is ridiculous. She hangs onto stuff just because we bought them. I'm trying to help her understand that they'd be better off going to someone who will actually use them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 My dh has quite a collection of running shirts too, mostly Mountain Goat races and the Gobble Jog. As far as regular clothes, he has way more than I do. But we don't have people giving us weird clothes so we don't have that guilt hanging over us. ;) Will your mom be really hurt if you give away the coat? I guess since you're clearing out the closet you now have more space for keeping it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 My dh has quite a collection of running shirts too, mostly Mountain Goat races and the Gobble Jog. As far as regular clothes, he has way more than I do. But we don't have people giving us weird clothes so we don't have that guilt hanging over us. ;) Will your mom be really hurt if you give away the coat? I guess since you're clearing out the closet you now have more space for keeping it. Yeah, she would be hurt. She puts a lot of thought into her gifts although I can't always figure out her reasoning. But she's always so excited when I'm opening a gift. She's practically bouncing in her seat because she's so proud she bought what she thinks is the perfect gift for me. Sometimes I tease her about the gifts but never outright tell her I hate them. She knows I don't like bright colors, for example, but she feels my drab wardrobe needs a splash of color. Well, it certainly pops in my closet, but it's not something I'd wear. It's really weird. I was lucky this last Christmas. I told her the girls and I wanted pj pants and that's all she bought us. And she got cute ones at that. I gushed about how perfect they were and how thoughtful she was that she picked out exactly what I wanted. Then the next month for my birthday I get the puffy vest. Good grief! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Ooh, that's hard when you know that it would hurt the giver's feelings to know you've given it away. I'm probably not much help since I've taken to giving it away anyway, and if the giver (also my mother) asks, I just answer, "Oh, it's around here somewhere," and think to myself that "somewhere" includes whatever charity received it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripley Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I think it's sweet that you're sensitive to your mom's feelings, even if it feels like she's not as in tune with yours (re: your taste!) I hold onto - and wear - all sorts of stuff I dislike. Because I like the people who gave it to me. My dear friend has zero issue donating something she won't wear or doesn't like. She teases me mercilessly about my "sentimentality" issues! Ironically, we subscribe to the same philosophy of "you only live once" - to her this means, there's no time to hold on to things she can't or won't lose. To me it means there's no harm holding on to something that comes from someone I can't or won't risk hurting. We complement each other well and like to do big de-clutter projects together for this reason. But I'd be lying if I didn't say those projects stressed us out and that we tend to need a month "off" from each other after each big one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waa510 Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Ugh! I have a MIL and a mom who have the same ideas about me and sprucing up my "boring" wardrobe. I like boring. I'm not depressed..I just like black and gray!! Since you mentioned your dh and his running shirts: I've had my Dh give them to my girls for sleep shirts. He can still 'have' them in a sense but they aren't cluttering his drawers never getting worn. I see your kids are older and you said your ds likes t-shirts...maybe Dad can gift him some running shirts?? Just an idea. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I am turning my husbands old hiking shirts into a quilt. They were just living in the drawer, but he loved them because they were sentimental. By turning them into a quilt they will at least be used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I often end up needing to loan jumpers here as it gets colder than expected. Could you set it aside as your special loan to cold visitors jacket. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 On the topic of dh's tshirts. I move them around. First I take the ones I don't think he wears and put them in a different drawer. Then I put them in the closet, folded on the floor somewhere. Then in a box. Finally they go to goodwill. I figure that many steps, he's bound to look for the one he really likes so it doesn't leave the house but ones he doesn't notice do. The problem here is conferences. He'll go to a conference and everyone and their brother will be giving away free t's. Sometimes there are other things. The pile of other things existed intact next to the bed 6 mo to a year before I went through it, grabbed what was worth it and tossed the rest. (BTW, there was only 1 thing that was worth it.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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