When I don’t feel like wearing real clothes- Totally Broke Tuesday
Several years ago, daughter Ania and I noticed we were getting into a slump, a not wearing real clothes slump. We traipsed around in sweats and yoga pants. When we decided, after our annual shopping trip get dressed in real clothes every day, we got questions like:
“Where are you going today?”
“Why are you so dressed up?”
All confirmation that we had hit a slump. This school year, I started sliding back down the slippery slope to yoga-pants-land. The weather is cool in the morning and I walk before school. I found myself coming home and throwing on a sweatshirt instead of suiting up for the day. I went to two appointments wearing my “fake” clothes and I don’t like the way it made me feel. I felt like I dropped the ball.
I was thinking about my fake clothes slump during our annual shopping trip to the outlets on Saturday and reminded myself of a habit I need to reinstate- shopping in my own closet! I do this before the shopping trip, making a list of what I need, not what I want, which is all new. Just new. Did I say new? And…. I don’t always need new. I just want it.
At the change of each season, I shop in my closet and put as many outfits together as I can. At the beginning of each week (Sunday afternoon), I choose my outfits for the week and hang each one on a hanger, complete with jewelry. I use my mannequin.. I’m certainly not saying you have to be obsessive about it as I do, but I do think there are many benefits of shopping your own closet and getting dressed in real clothes every day.
If you are like me, you have a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear, at least that is what I can fall prey to thinking. This morning, for example, I pulled a pair of jeans out of the closet that I forgot I owned! I didn’t have to go out and buy them!
Reasons to Get Dressed in Real Clothes
When I get dressed, I feel better, more professional. I get more accomplished when I am wearing real clothes. I can go out the door at a moments notice without panicking about what I have on. The children are watching what I do. If I get in a habit of staying in my pjs all day, they will follow suit. When the UPS man comes to the door, I don’t have to hide because I don’t want him to see my snowflake pj pants or my black yoga pants with paint on the leg (true story).
I don’t have anything deep or theological to share. It is a pretty simple message, we keepers of the home, homeschooling or otherwise, should treat our homes like a business. We should be good stewards of our time and finances. I can easily fall into the trap of slothfulness when it comes to either of these. I, like Eve in the garden, can believe that I don’t have enough ________. I need more clothes, more me time (that’s another post altogether) instead of looking at what I do have with an attitude of thankfulness. Give us today our daily bread is part of our daily prayer. The manna provided for today is enough. The closet full of clothes is enough. The outfit I am wearing is the manna I am wearing for today. If I need more tomorrow, it will be there. God supplies all of my needs according to His riches in glory. When I get dressed for the day in ‘real’ clothes, I honor Him and the good gifts He has given.