Spot on ….

Back in December I was at our local mall doing some Christmas shopping. I found a sweater that I thought looked like our Sarah. I sent Russ a pic of it and he seconded the motion so I took it up to the register to purchase. 

Hanging on the rack next to the counter was this blue top. It was my size and color and the softest feeling thing ever. I asked if it was still for sale and the associate confirmed it was. It was actually on sale. 

I thought it was just so nice, but I was a good girl and just made my gift purchase. When I got home, I told Russ about the top and he said he thought he may have actually looked at it for me. We went back up later and he got it for me as a Christmas gift. 

So funny because I was genuinely surprised when I opened it on Christmas morning. I had totally forgotten about it. He added some pretty cream color pants that are equally soft and I was excited for a spring like casual outfit that was comfy but looked nice. 

On a warmer day near the end of December, I decided to wear it. I had it on less that ten minutes when I sprayed some perfume near it and a dot of a stain formed right on the front. I hoped it would dry to invisible but hope was deferred. 

I took it in the laundry room and used a stain remover. Unfortunately the fabric’s incredible softness is its downfall. The gentle brushing to remove the stain caused a pilling around the site of injury. 

I was devastated. The stain was gone but in its place was a snagged appearance. Thankfully I have one of those nice sweater de-fuzzing gizmos and it has worked to remove the most of it. I don’t think anyone else notices although to me, I can tell exactly where the surgery took place. 

I am wearing it today and was alarmed a little while ago as I cleaned up our breakfast dishes and realized I had splashed water across the front. After some anxious waiting, the spots dried with no evidence of my messiness. 

Some clothes are like that, aren’t they? You can do the same activities daily in a variety of clothing but that one shirt is the one that always seems to end up catching a spill. 

It reminds me of a splurge purchase I made when John was a tyke. At that time there was a popular brand of brightly colored rompers and dresses that you could get embroidered with cute pictures. 

Since he was a Fourth of July baby and our last little one, I indulged myself and ordered blue and white stripe overall shorts that had a watermelon slice on the chest. I couldn’t believe our little John was going to be so dapper and trendy. 

Every single time that kid wore this particular outfit, he managed to get some kind of difficult to remove deposit on it. I even used bibs but the offending dribbles would splatter across his chest and I would be back in the laundry room working to extract his most recent artwork. 

I got to dreading even putting the thing on him. Should we just go ahead and splash some red juice down the front? Toss some ketchup towards it? Rub a chocolate bar across the watermelon slice? 

I have to say I remember that garment better than almost anything he wore. My labor added to its value, I guess. 

Russ had one particular tie that was a magnet for salad dressing. He could wear any tie and ate salad just about any day, but if he wore this one, we were guaranteed a spot check at the end of the day. 

I wish I had a nice spiritual application for this, but I don’t.

 It’s just a slice of life that certain garments attract debris and cause us to pause before pulling them off the hangar. We actually have to think through the day and possible casualties when selecting to wear them. 

Do you have a piece of clothing like this? Would be fun to hear about it….and if you don’t, can we borrow your spot remover…I have a lot of day ahead of me.