hand me downs

How does that saying go, one person's trash is another persons treasure? Something like that. I have a friend who has a friend who at least twice a year bags up all the clothes that her two daughters have outgrown, and takes them to my friends house. Who then calls me and tells me to come and get them, which eventually I do. And I tell ya, it's like Christmas Day and Fashion Week all rolled into one when those bags get to my house. It has to be one of my girls favorite things to do, sorting through those bags, trying on clothes. It's quite the process, especially since Kate and Emily - being twins - are basically the same size. I used to sit and do it with them, but the last couple times I have let them have at it in the spare bedroom downstairs. I listen in occasionally, but for the most part let them work out who gets what, and act as the audience in the ongoing parade of outfits whenever they think they have something really special. While they may argue over a lot - actually it seems like sometimes they argue over EVERYTHING - somehow they seem to manage dividing up the clothes amongst themselves without much fuss. I can only attribute this to the fact that they each have pretty specific tastes in what they wear, and each have a different favorite colour. Elizabeth has it easiest, since she's the only one in her size category. As for the other two, Em likes the more glam/feminine styles, and Kate goes for tshirts and track pants, and anything green. The girls the clothes come from are older, but have similar body types to my kids, so usually most of the stuff fits pretty well.
I just find it so interesting that two 7  year olds and an 8 year old can be so totally consumed by a bag of clothes. It's such a girly thing to do. It's not something I taught them, you can't teach that kind of passion! I know I'm generalizing, but on average, I suspect that if my kids were boys that the bags of clothes would not hold the same fascination at all. I don't have any boys, so I can't say for sure of course.
Anyway, I am always glad to have them, clothes aren't cheap especially for three kids. Plus the one thing I feel I do get to teach them is a lesson in recycling, how things don't have to be new to be "good".
I just wish they would work out their differences in other things as well as they do with the clothes...