Cornershot

My son is the beneficiary of lots of hand-me-downs from friends.

If I tallied his clothing budget since he was born four-and-a-half years ago, it probably wouldn’t amount to more than $100, thanks to generous mom friends of mine who pass down their sons’ clothes.

As he has gotten older — and more mobile and self-sufficient — though, I’ve realized that I dread white shirts.

While I love the color white, I don’t know how they could possibly stay white when worn by toddlers.

Especially when the kids are doing art projects, cooking projects and have playground time at school.

So I’m always marveling at how pristine the shirts are when I pull them out of the box or bag. How in the world did those mothers before me keep them so clean?

I’ve since discovered two solutions to this problem.

1. OxiClean — a pre-soak does wonders.

2. Keeping the shirts tucked in the back of the drawer, so they’re hardly ever worn (“Oh, not the white shirt today, please.”).

This way, the next mom to receive the shirts will marvel at the bright whites — then get intimidated and stow them away, to be worn rarely and passed on quickly.

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