Mommy Mondays

It's been ages since I managed to get around to one of these posts! Of course, if I manage to get done everything I want to during E's nap today, hopefully there will be another post that explains the resurgence of what was - for a while - my regular Mommy Monday column.

Over the holidays I've been in an interesting place with my clothes. In the spirit of trying to be more organised I've donated several old pieces that are in good condition, but which I simply don't wear any more. As much as I love knowing that someone else can get use out of the clothes I don't wear, I still find it really difficult to get rid of things. I'll look at an old jumper or top or pair of jeans and think, "but it's a shame to get rid of it. I used to love it. I'm sure I could find a way to wear it...it's still in good condition..." In this way, I often weasel my way out of getting rid of things I ought to have chucked to the charity bins long ago.

My other step in getting organised was to separate out all of my maternity clothes and pack them away until the next time I'm incubating a tiny human in my uterus. Especially with some of the less-obviously maternity range tops I own, I have been guilty of being that woman who wears her maternity clothes when she isn't pregnant. Really, that needed to stop. Likewise, when I'm pregnant again and showing, I'm not going to push it trying to keep my regular clothes on up to any specific point. My old bathing suit is now permanently warped and stretched in places because I wore it for far too long to go swimming when I was pregnant with E.

I suppose, all of this leads up to announcing one of my few New Year's resolutions:

I want to downsize the number of things in my wardrobe, but I also want to know that I love to wear all the clothes I own. Whether I'm at my goal size, or pregnant, or in that depressing in-between stage when your maternity clothes are too big and your normal clothes are too small, I don't want to buy anything that's just a stop-gap measure. If there are pieces I need, I want to carefully consider them, look at my options, and only buy something when I'm honestly in love with it. I know that sometimes that will mean spending more than I might otherwise if I don't go for a cheaper option or if I can't wait in hope of a sale, but my plan is that even if individual pieces cost me more than they might otherwise, my total expenditure will be less because I'm giving careful consideration to the purchases I actually commit to.

Take this outfit, for example. I borrowed the tank top and cardi from my little sister, but it's exactly the sort of thing I ought to find for myself and have as a nice staple in my wardrobe. It's comfy, flattering, and easy to breastfeed in. (Yes, that is still a consideration, and it will be for ages since it's not like we're planning to have years and years in between having kids in the house of an age to breastfeed.) So that is a huge part of my decision making when I pick new pieces or outfits: is it washable? Is it going to hide grubby fingerprints or baby sick? Can I easily breastfeed while wearing it? After all of those, if it's cute as well, I'll definitely consider it as a viable option.

Thankfully, I'm starting to find smart outfits that fit the bill in all those departments as well. Score. Now, I need to go console a little boy and clean an entire box of Cheerios off my living room floor. I knew he was too quiet in there to be up to any good...