Pretty Clothes

Last August, when Erin turned two, she received a birthday present from Uncle Tom and Aunt Audrey. It was an adorable, pink-striped outfit, and it caught Erin's eye immediately.

"Ohhh", she breathed. "Pretty clothes!" After years of hand-me-downs, Erin was thrilled.

Since then, Erin has worn this outfit at every possible moment. The minute it comes out of the dryer, she strips out of her back-up clothes and grabs the pink dress. "My pretty clothes! My pretty clothes!", she cries with glee. Many a morning has been spent with Erin in tears because the outfit is not ready to be worn, and I'm sure that some parents in town must think that my poor child only owns one set of clothing, because she is rarely seen wearing anything else.

Back in September, when she first put the outfit on, the pants were quite baggy, and the dress was somewhat long. But yesterday, I noticed that the pants are actually starting to "just fit". After hundreds of wearings, I fear that the reign of the "pretty clothes" will soon draw to an end. And although there were times that I was very tired of Erin's stubborn refusal to wear any of her other dresses, I feel a tiny bit of sadness at the thought of her outgrowing the "pretty clothes".

Remarkably, the outfit is still in good condition, so I will probably put it into a bag soon, along with other size 3T winter clothes. And someday, when I pull it out of the bag during a sorting frenzy, I will remember this long, cold winter. I'll remember these few months when Erin changed from a toddler into a little girl, with blond pig-tails and a broken-tooth smile. And I'll thank God for the gift of Erin...and for the birthday gift that made her so happy.