http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/hand-me-downs/#like-89733
“Clothes and toys, recipes and jokes, advice and prejudice: we all have to handle all sorts of hand-me-downs every day. Tell us about some of the meaningful hand-me-downs in your life”.
I was the oldest child so I didn’t get hand-me-down clothes. We didn’t get used toys either, so I guess I am no expert in those areas.
Now that I am older I am more aware of how quickly money slides out of our fingers.
I will wear used clothing now. I will purchase a used item from another person. I have changed.
I love to go to Goodwill and Salvation Army stores now. If I am careful in my choosing, I also enjoy visiting the Dent & Bang stores that sell food in a less desirable looking box than the grocery store prefers.
I have stated this several times through these prompts that the best thing I own that is used, is my paperback book called, Black Like Me. It is made of gold in my eyes.
The other hand-me-downs that I have received that I didn’t enjoy as much earlier as I do now that I am older are the bits and pieces of advice given to me by my parents. Oh, I admit, when they voiced their opinions, sometimes I thought they were way out there.
I mean how could our parents possibly understand what we were going through or thinking. They were so old. Oh how wrong I was. I remember a piece of advice that my grandmother gave me so many years ago.
It didn’t click in my brain then, but it sure does now. She used to tell me, kids will step on your apron strings when they are little and on your hearts when they are grown.
What an absolute truth that is. If you try to tell me that your children have never broken your heart in some way, you must not live on planet earth. I am not saying our kids do it on purpose; but let’s face it, we are a different generation. They are taught different from we were; so therefore, they think different today. The good thing, at least for me is; I love my kids. I have faults, I say things wrong, I hurt without intention, and so do they. Forgive me and forgive them, that is my motto.
In the end though after getting away from the main topic I have to admit that the best hand-me-downs I have ever received are words; words of wisdom from wise old owls.
Who I am 
For me, I do wear second hand clothes and some new clothes because I am the middle child
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I can understand that, you being the middle child, but for me, I always had new things because I was the first child
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Do you like it to be the first child? My brother wish he is the first child
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I guess I never really thought about it until my youngest half sister was born ten years later. I know that I went through some jealousy at that time. Sometimes I felt like I was being made to be older than I was because I was the oldest.
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I was the second and always wore my sisters clothes. i think I got my first new coat when I was about 15. I did it with my boys too.. hand the not ruined stuff to the younger. Children don’t mind. Even now I like to go to charity shops and buy stuff there. I also bring stuff there. I think it is good to recycle clothes that way as they don’t get all the wear out usually.
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I recycle clothes also. I sort of remember passing a few hand me downs from my oldest son to my youngest, but not too often as they played so hard in their clothes, lol
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