You be the judge

Some mom's like to go to brunch, some a family outing to the zoo, but for me, on Mother's Day, I just want to clean my closet.  And that is just what I did.  I enlisted my children to take part in the purge by playing the roles of final judges.  They were instructed to comment on the item in question and could send it to one of three piles:  Keep, Maybe or Giveaway.  The first few items were maybes...the judges were hesitant at first to vote anyone off in the first episode.  Then I held up a black sheer long sleeve button down blouse with velvet leaves on it.

"Giveaway?" I asked.
"No, that looks like something Nana would wear,  Remember, Mom, it looks like what she wore to her 95th Birthday party.  Put it in the Nana pile"

So, pile number one quickly  became the Nana pile.  Hey, my grandmother's stylish.

Now we are about ten items in when one of the judges requests a "try on."  I tried on the item in question only to receive this response, "It makes you look like your are having a baby - giveaway!"

So, pile number two became the You're having a baby pile.

Moving right along, things are getting tossed, kept, rearranged, etc. when I move to another section of the closet and pull out a plaid button down.

"Keep?" I ask hopefully.
To which a judge responds, "Mommy, that's Daddy's shirt."
I quickly correct, "No, it's Mommy's."
"Well, you should just give it to Daddy, because it looks like his anyway."

So, pile number three became the Give to Daddy pile.

Triumphantly (and embarrassingly), I got rid of about 50 items of clothing.  I hadn't done a tried and try purge in quite some time and with the thoughtful (and brutally honest) help of my judges, I achieved success.  I guess it took becoming a mother to get ride of some unnecessary closet clutter.

I did learn to keep the scissors close by when doing this task.   You never know when a long skirt could be repurposed into a short skirt or those pants could be worn as shorts.

When doing a "try on" I accidently put a shirt on backwards only to realize that it looked tons better that way.  Here's the shirt, I kept it.  Kept the skirt too.

I suggest three things when closet purging this spring:

1. Enlist some thoughtful judges to help you decide
2. Keep scissors nearby
3. Don't be afraid to look at an item of clothing in a new way

Happy Purging.

Oh and one last thing I have to clarify:  I haven't completely gotten rid of the items yet, they are still in my car.  I guess Salvation Army is the way to go, but I am always looking for a more direct way to donate items.  If anyone has an idea, please let me know.