Column 14 – Saving it for Good by The FlyLady, Marla Cilley

Why do we save our good stuff for a special occasion? Make memories with your pretty things so your children will know they are special to you!

1. Good China
2. Nice glasses
3. Linen table cloths.
4. Pretty underwear or night gowns
5. Good purses
6. New towels
7. Special bottles of bubble bath and soap
8. Cloth napkins
9. Candles
10.Good silverware
11.Fancy tea pots or silver tea services
12.Stationery cute notepads

We all have some of these things stashed in our cabinets, linen closets and our dresser drawers. They are just sitting there unloved and collecting dust. We got them for wedding presents or our parents handed them down to us.  You may have purchased them for yourself. They are all waiting to we unpacked and used to bless us or our families.

Let me tell you why I think they are unloved and why we don’t use them.  We have put them in a place that we can’t easily get to them. They are in a box in the garage, On a shelf in the basement, stuck so far back under your cabinets, that it would take two hours to pull them out or they are on the very top shelf and you need a ladder to get to them. Then if you do get them out, they are filthy dirty and need to be washed. We don’t have time to enjoy our pretty things. So we hide them away. We don’t have to see them and feel guilt about not using them or we really don’t love them at all.

If we will get rid of the clutter that is in our kitchen, our linen closets and our china cabinets, we will have more room for the things that you love. When we take the time to get them clean, they will be ready to use. There is another benefit.

When we set a formal table, we can teach our children proper table manners. Many times we eat with our fingers, when we have sandwiches and pizza. Our children have no clue which fork to use first or how to use a butter knife or cut meat. If we are going to help our children feel comfortable in these types of situations, they need practice. This is a good time to let them practice, setting the table and using their best table manners.  This has become a lost art. They will need this one day, when a boss asks them over for dinner or at their own wedding.

As for the other items you have stashed in dresser drawers, don’t wait till your family buries you in them; then is too late for you to feel sexy wearing them. Get them out and wear those pretty undies. You will be so surprised at how good you will feel, and no one will know. This goes for those night gowns you have stashed too. You know the ones you have gotten for Valentine’s Day.

If you are not going to use them, then you might as well give them to someone that will.  If you never liked them, then release them and have no guilt about it. Give them away, someone will love them and you will be blessed by your gift.

Make every day a celebration, by treating your family like they are company! This is what FLYing is all about. Loving yourself enough to enough your pretty things now while you can.

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