The Number Field

So far, our monetary outlay for baby things totals in the extremely low two digits. Despite that, Jenny is currently folding and organizing dozens of beautiful baby clothes. We received a couple of things as gifts specifically for Sunflower, but the vast majority has been passed to us by other families. After he found out that Jenny was pregnant, our home teacher gave us some advice. He told us that we didn't need to worry about buying much early on, because plenty of people would give us things.

Here's an example. At Cub Scouts, one of the boys told me that his mother had baby stuff for me. At the conclusion of the meeting, she explained that their neighbor had been cleaning out and gave two boxes of clothing, toys, and items to her. She didn't need it, and decided to pass it along to us, since we're having our first child, and she (correctly) reasoned that we didn't have any baby things yet. She told us that if there was anything we didn't want, we could and should give it away to Goodwill or pass it along to someone else we knew.

We looked through and kept some things. Many of the clothes were for a child more than a year old, and we didn't want to hold onto them for that long. Jenny thought of a colleague at work who has a little toddler girl, and decided to ask her if she would like the clothes. She said yes, and then offered to give us the infant clothes that she no longer needs. So far, she has given us probably three times more we gave her, and I think that there is still more on the way.

The clothes have been cared for very carefully, and are in like-new condition. I don't have a keen eye for baby fashion, but even I can tell that they're very cute. We're so thankful for kind friends, acquaintances, and colleagues who are so giving. Does this happen for everyone? I hope so. The geeks among you will understand when I say that it's good that baby stuff doesn't come with DRM .