Clothing repair

It's clothing repair day here in the Bluefield household.  I had hoped that today would be Walgreens-and-Target-for-free-stuff and Goodwill-for-half-price-toys-and-children's-clothing day, but Bubby convinced me that it would be better to just stay home today.  It really didn't take too much effort--I like staying home. 

This morning I placed 17 patches on 12 pairs of pants, most of which had not been patched before, surprisingly enough, as well as repairing torn seams on a pair of PJ bottoms and a shirt (I was wondering where that shirt had gotten to...).  As I have mentioned before, if I wasn't willing or able to patch our kids' pants, the children would most likely be naked, which would probably be frowned upon by teachers and other authority types.

I also pulled a pair of size 24 mo jeans with a hole in the knee out of my repair pile.  I'm not sure what I was thinking when I put them in the repair pile--it's been over a year since Bubby has worn that size....  Well, I was probably thinking that I should repair them and then donate them to our favorite clothing charity: God's Closet.  I'm waiting for Hubby to come home and tell me it's OK to not fix them, to just throw them away.

These jeans are fine--they just have one little hole in one little knee, which could be easily repaired--and I'm sure that there is someone out there who would love to have this little pair of jeans.  Most people, though, would experience absolutely no angst about just tossing this torn garment in the trash.  I think the thought process is something like, I don't need or want this any more, so I'll just throw it in this tidy receptacle, which will be picked up, within a week, by some people wearing reflective clothing and driving a big green truck, and then it will be out of my house and I won't have to think about it any more.  I don't know where it goes; I don't know how my choices affect others, and I really. don't. care.  We are living in an increasingly disposable society.

I try my very best to be a good steward of my resources, and a big part of that is reducing the amount of trash I generate, reusing anything I can, and recycling anything that can't be reused.  I feel so strongly about this that I consider it a moral imperative.  The jeans are damaged, but fixable, and while I no longer have any use for them, there are plenty of people out there who would.  It's not about being cheap (although I definitely do qualify on that count as well); it's about caring for other people and our world, as we've been charged to do by the One who made it all.  *Sigh* Oh well, I guess it's back to the ironing board for me!