In Which The Hand Me Downs Become Hand Me Ups...

It has happened. We knew it would. The Pea (my youngest) has surpassed The Bug (my oldest) in weight and height. Granted, we're only talking about part of an inch and a few pounds. Nevertheless, in their minds, this is SUBSTANTIAL. And it is, I suppose.
I buy pairs of everything. The girls have worn the same size for about a year now. This has made my life simpler in some ways -- I just grab two of said shirt, skirt or jeans when shopping at Wal-Mart, Target or TJMaxx (my favorite kiddo shopping grounds.) This has made my life more difficult in some ways -- what if the store doesn't HAVE two of the same item? (Like at TJMaxx, where a lot of times, there's only one item of that particular style or color in that particular size...) Last night I found some clearance uniforms for $4 bucks at Target. My children attend public school, however, in my mind - a khaki skort is a khaki skort. And two identical $4 khaki skorts belong in my shopping cart. As usual, I grabbed two of the same size.
After baths, the kids tried on their new clothes. The Pea's fit perfectly. The Bug's hung on her. I sewed darts on the Bug's (yeah, I got skills...) so that the skort would fit.
The Bug and I had a talk. My little brother was always "bigger" than me! She found some comfort in that...I tried to tell her it's all in the genes. I tried to tell her that someday, she'd appreciate being petite...maybe she'd even look younger than her younger sister. Unfortunately, these assurances were not extremely encouraging to a third grader.
Before bedtime we practiced the Bug's Bible Drill Team verses. Bible Drill is open to participants 8 years old and older. (A fact The Bug is pleased to announce daily). We went over a few passages, even did a few "mock" drills. She eventually drifted off to sleep, proud to be a part of something the "big kids" aspired to join....even if she was the littlest big kid member...