I have always been able to keep my son in clothing relatively inexpensively. My mom's an ace at catching end-of-season clearance sales where she helps me stock up for the next year. And I'm a huge fan of consignment sales and any hand-me-downs I can get my hands on. So for the past 5 1/2 years, with a little planning and a little luck, I've been able to keep my son's wardrobe stocked without forking out a pretty penny.
That golden era has officially come to an end.
Over the past few weeks, I have thrown away no less than four pairs of pants that suddenly turned up with giant holes in the knees. And I don't mean some dainty little tear where a well placed patch could buy me at least a few more washes. No, I'm talking serious side seam to side seam rips, the likes of which would seem to require sharp objects to render in previously intact cloth. And yet son manages this kind of damage with nothing more than playground sand, living room carpet and little boy enthusiasm.
I know some of you are mumbling to yourself, "Of course little boys wear the knees out of their pants." First, I hold he's beating some kind of record for the speed with which he's going through these things. And, second, it's not just the britches. He came home from school Friday with a nickel-sized hole inexplicably in the middle of his shirt. He had no reasonable explanation for how it got there -- something about somebody grabbing or jerking on his shirt or something. Just a big hole right in the middle of his shirt.
And since he has to wear uniforms to school, every school item that meets its untimely end has to be replaced at, what seems to me and my secondhand-buying ways, a hefty price. I've come to the conclusion that I should just start forking my paycheck directly over to Land's End.
The problem has been compounded lately by a growth spurt my son has gone through, making many of his remaining intact clothes suddenly too small. When he got dressed for school for the first morning after Christmas break, I nearly burst out laughing at him wearing a shirt that had no chance of being tucked in and cuffs that stopped two inches too soon. This was a shirt (size 5/6, by the way) that fit just fine -- not roomy, but just fine -- in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
So back to the Land's End site I go for shirts in a bigger size. I might as well get some more pants while I'm at it. Heaven knows he'll run through or grow out of the three pairs he's still got in the next week or two.
And, oh my stars, the shoes. Don't get me started on the shoes. Can you order footwear in bulk?
No comments:
Post a Comment