"And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love."
I ran across this "scripture" on a listing on ebay for a dress I've been watching. It's long been known to me (and confirmed last week when I went to see the Shopoholic movie) that I have a problem. A buying problem. Buying dresses for my girls, especially.
I want my girls to be well-dressed. That's it. I remember wishing for clothes when I was a kid--only to be handed down both my older sisters' very used leftovers.
As a mother, I think I've modeled a lot of my style around my own mother. But the clothes issue is where I've run completely to the other side of the field. I want my kids to have it so very different from I did. I've seen this with my sister too. And yes, now our kids are well-dressed. But where does it stop? There has to be a limit. Portia has so many dresses that at most, she wears one dress twice. I know it's too much, but I just can't stop. And it increases my pleasure twofold if I can get said dress(es) for a good deal (yes, I remember the fight the protagonist in Shopoholic had over the half-priced boots).
In my defense, however, this all started when Miranda died and I realized that I hadn't bought her enough clothes of her own (translation: If I had bought her more, she would have felt more loved). I justify this by saying that the amount of dresses my girls have equals how much I love them. I know it's not completely rational, but at least I have an excuse. My intentions are good. And when my girls are all dressed up for church, they are cloaked in my love.
Admitting the problem is the first step. Next step, tomorrow I'm going to try to go a whole day without looking on ebay. Let's see if I'm strong enough. I have to keep telling myself that I love my kids regardless of what they're wearing. I do know that my mom loved me even when I was wearing those footie pajamas with my toes poking through.
5 comments:
I have had a problem with buying church dresses too. In the past, there have been certain size ranges where there weren't enough Sunday's to have Chay or Abby wear all the dresses I'd purchased before they were no longer wearing that size. I suggest Eric getting a huge cut in pay to help you stop. It's the only thing that worked for me. ;)
They always do look so adorable! I love your thought about them "cloaked in your love." It makes sense to me why you feel the way you do. I think I need to go see that movie :)
I can't believe you still went to that movie without me!!! Jerk! Okay, so, here's the thing... If what you need to do is buy dresses (to heal your heart) then buy dresses. Don't be so hard on yourself. Let yourself heal, even if healing takes the form of irrational dress buying.
Ignore Christie's comments entirely. There are cheaper ways to heal your heart. You do have a problem. I am thinking of enrolling you in a 12 step program with the apology stage forcing you to accept and apologize to me for all of the money spent on dresses that either are never worn or worn just once.
I've said it before and I will say it again. Kids have 5 or 6 outfits they love to wear. Any other outfit is just a trial for them to put on. So if you really wanted to show the love, find out what they want and only buy them a few outfits.
LOL! Quite the post with many great comments! I have to admit, your daughters look beautiful every Sunday! I am addicted to finding a deal on everything I buy... It’s horrible. I will even miss out on something I really want/need if I can’t get a “deal” on it. On the flip side, even if I don’t really need something, if it’s “a great deal” I have a hard time passing it by…
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