Friday, September 10, 2010

Winning.

All of our drawers are heavy and over packed after a week of cooler weather warranting jeans and long-sleeved shirts. It’s getting to be the time where I take stock of what still fits from last winter and figure out what we need for this winter. I love doing the seasonal change out. Folding things and putting them away for Liv, or in boxes to eBay, or in to our donation bin. The best part comes next, which involves pulling out Lucy’s old clothes to fill Liv’s drawers, and also pulling out the bins that house all the clearance finds I have found over the last year and bringing those out.

This, along with Fall shopping, has been pretty standard in our house for a while. I get lots of things on clearance, at consignment or on eBay, but I also put aside a small budget for buying things in season like jeans, pajamas, and a few other necessities for each kid. Lucy and Liv were very lucky this year in receiving a ton of fall clothes at their birthday party in August. They also both got several gift cards that I used to buy new shoes and jackets. Lucy needs a few things; Liv is set.

Bud is not though, and Hub and I have been arguing over his wardrobe these last few days. Most of Buds pants (of the wind and athletic style) from last year still fit him; they are size 6/7. His jeans though are a size 6 and just reach the tops of his shoes, so he needs jeans. He also has a few shirts from last year that will fit him this year. When discussing the shopping that I plan this weekend, I told Hub that I would like to get Bud 2 pairs of jeans, and 5 or 6 long sleeved shirts. Nothing extravagant, you know? But Hub disagrees. His points: He is a boy. He does not need to have 10 shirts in his rotation. 5 shirts is plenty. Plus even in the dead of winter, he should be wearing t-shirts on gym days because he will be sweaty. He certainly has plenty of t-shirts from this summer. And the jeans still fit him. I should wait to buy new jeans until he has gotten all the wear he can out of these jeans! I should go out and get a few new shirts to add to his rotation, and that is it.

Obviously, I disagree. Compared to my girls, Bud wears through his clothes pretty fast. Pinholes become full holes quickly. Elbows rub and get worn out. Knees wear out. I would rather have a stock of clothes on hand and not have to worry about just running out for a few shirts. I also don’t want my kid being The Kid Who Always Wears The Same Clothes.

I have issues with the way my kids are dressed that stem from not having very many clothes myself when I was a kid. I don’t ever want my kids to feel like they’re less than the other kids because of their apparel. And I know that clothes don’t decide what kind of person you are; however, kids seem to think otherwise. And I know he is only a 1st grader and that probably nobody (aside from the teacher) is noticing his clothes. It’s just hard for me, you know?

Hub says get him a few shirts, wait on the pants, and to not even get him started on Lucy and her wardrobe. He gives me much leeway with her. She has more clothes than the entire family combined. And if I want to get in to it over Bud, than we can get in to it about her as well.

I say hmph. This is a situation where I just want to get my own way and be done with it. I’m not looking at spending and exorbitant amount of money. I’m not looking at buying things he doesn’t need. I just….just…

Well I want to cross my arms and stomp my feet and win this one.

7 comments:

jen(melty) said...

ha. I don't even ask husband anymore. And D has wayyyyyyyyy more than 5 or 10 shirts. Though I have been buying less, because it's a PITA doing that much laundry. I too am sensitive to the 5 shirts thing, you can't do that, I don't care who you are. I use this argument to make it so he has 40 ties haha. At least in my defense, J can wear D's hand me downs.

Jess said...

I think five shirts is really not a lot. I mean that's one per weekday and what does he do on the weekends? You HAVE to do laundry for him? And what if he spills or tears or something? Maybe you could compromise and get like seven or eight shirts and one pair of jeans for now, and when your husband sees that Bud prefers the clothes that actually fit maybe he will agree that a second pair of jeans (possibly even on sale!) would be acceptable.

Anonymous said...

Whatever happened on your eBay personal shopper experience?

5 shirts is not enough. It just isn't. Esp for a boy.

Saly said...

Maybe saying 5 shirts is exagerating a bit. He figured it out that with what he currently has, plus t-shirts for gym days, plus what I want to buy, he'll have about 10. But still. Last year (and every year, actually), he had around 15 shirts, plus sweaters and sweatshirts.

Saly said...

err...not what I want to buy, but what he wants me to buy

bananafana said...

gah I am a sucker for kids clothes so I should probably keep my mouth shut here . . . but I won't. We tend to have lots of clothes in rotation but a big part of that is because we SUCK at laundry and more clothes means longer between needing to wash, fold and return to drawers. O probably has about 30 t-shirts alone and about as many long sleeve/sweaters and that doesn't include his uniforms for school. Of course, I've bought almost NONE of what he currently wears since he has gotten most as gifts.

Mommy Daisy said...

I'm on your side here. But I love buying new kids clothes. My son has a closet full. Matt has never complained about it. My mom will be a few things each season too. Like last weekend, she got him a few pairs of pants with a couple tops & one set of pj's. I'm sure she'll get him a sweater or two at Christmas-time. Then at his birthday in March she usually buys a few summer outfits.

Then I buy the rest. I think what you wanted to get would be what I got. He'll need them and wear them too.