On Mat Leave, Baby!

So I'm off on maternity leave, and I'm lovin' it. In fact, the first thought I had when I woke up yesterday was "I don't have to work today!" I haven't done anything really exciting since I went off, but a bad day on leave is better than a good day at work, right?
The one task I did tackle was washing all the baby's clothes. It sounds silly, but the new clothes just looked so pretty, it seemed a shame to take the tags off and wash them. I was finally motivated to get them done though, when my step-daughter gave me a bunch of used baby clothes that NEEDED to be washed first. The first lesson of baby clothes: terry cloth sleepers look old fast. Thankfully, I didn't have very many, mostly because I think putting terry cloth on a baby in June is probably bordering on child abuse.
Anyway, I have a small tale of woe to share about my clothes-washing experience. One of the shirts I bought was just the cutest lil' shirt in the world. It's pale blue-grey and it's kimono style, with a snap on the inside to wrap and two at the bottom of the shirt. It also has an adorable ribbon to tie it up. I just couldn't wait to dress up my little one in this shirt. Then, just as I cut off the tags, I noticed one of them cautioned to check the snaps. I did a quick once over, thinking it's brand new, so the snaps are probably fine. So, imagine my disappointment to find that the fabric around one of the bottom snaps was torn! At best, I would maybe get the snap done up and apart a couple of times before it completely fell off.
I put the shirt aside with the tag, and thought that I would go exchange it at the store later this week. I was pretty sure I even had the receipt; in fact, I thought I should get the receipt ready for when I return it. I rummaged through my shoe box full of receipts, and found the right one. Oh, but what was printed at the bottom of the receipt? No exchanges after 30 days. I bought the shirt with a bunch of other stuff way back in February. Thus the second lesson of baby clothes: don't wait too long to wash the new stuff.
So, I kept the shirt, reasoning to myself that I can just leave that corner unsnapped, and the baby will probably outgrow it before the snap comes off anyway. But, even though it probably sounds silly, the shirt wasn't the same. It wasn't as special; and the whole thing put a bit of a damper on all the fun of playing with the new clothes. But at least it happened before I put the shirt on the baby, because knowing my hormones I probably would have cried.
Anyway, I finished washing the clothes and blankets with no further incident. And I can't wait to dress up my little one in all that cute stuff. My baby is gonna be better-dressed than me!