bearisgray

Another of my Mom's sayings -

I am pretty sure it meant:

Not so fancy one had to worry about it getting dirty, chipped, or worn out.

But still of good enough quality that it was "respectable" and not ready for the trash or rag bag.

Items in the "good enough to use" category:

Quilts made for everyday use
The stainless steel tableware
The percale sheets
The comfortable shoes
The furniture in the family room
The mended clothing

There were things that were considered "too good to use" very often category -

The "good" china
The "good" silver
The hand appliqued quilt
The "new" underwear
The "good" jewelry

etc. etc.

How about your household/family?

NZquilter

Everything in my home is here specifically for using, except the family heirloom silver and my china set from Bavaria, Germany.

ptquilts

We had "Sunday" dishes, glasses, and silverware when I was a child, but we used them regularly, not everyday. I have the Sunday dishes now and I do use them everyday, and love them.

If they're "too good to use," why have them? Unless you are a museum. Use them as much as you want, your kids don't want them after you have gone!!

Chasing Hawk

Everything in our house growing up was fair game. Well except for Mom's sewing machine....lol no one touched it but her.

Tartan

If you saw the beautiful china and household goods that go to auctions, you would use the “ good stuff” now.

cashs_mom

We had a lot of "too good to use" like Sunday best clothes, good dishes, my mom's good jewelry. I don't have as much of that. I have antique china and silver my grandmother gave me that I only use on special occasions and some Christmas party for the company clothes that I don't wear regularly. Other things are pretty much used all the time. I also wear the diamond ring I inherited from my mom all the time even though she didn't because "diamonds were only for the evening". Too many rules!

SillySusan

There is nothing in my house that's too good to use. A lot of it is the "it should be thrown out already," but I still use it. And there is also the stuff that I have no need for, but "it may become handy one day."

Onebyone

No too good to use stuff when I was growing up but we had Sunday clothes, school clothes, and play clothes. After church or school we had to change into our play (old clothes) first thing.

quiltingcandy

My grandmother had the family dishes that dated back to the 1700's. When we were celebrating her 90th birthday I asked if we could use the dishes, and I said something like this is a good reason to use it (because you always save it for good) and she turned to me and said, "Well, nobody is "Goodder" than we are, so let's use it." My mom, my aunt and I all looked at her in shock because my grandmother always spoke proper English. And since that time we all used the saying - No-one is goodder than us.

(But I did take exception when my FIL took my expensive crystal out on the patio.)

GingerK

Over the years we gave our Grandmother many pretty and handcrafted items--doilies, embroidered tea towels and pillowcases, etc.--and she would always say that the gift was too nice to use and she would put it away and we could have it back after she died. Guess what--that is exactly what happened. Very very sad. I would have rather received my embroidered tea towel, tattered and stained, because then I would have known that it was good enough to use.