You can’t stop a kid from growing and often times if you buy them a new outfit, they have outgrown it before you know it. This has never been much of a problem with my son. Besides buying adjustable waist shorts and pants because he was skinny, I don’t feel like we went through clothes like my daughter does.
In February, I bought Lexie a dress for Valentine’s Day. So that it would last longer, I bought a size larger than normal. It looked great. Just a month later, it looked too short. And it isn’t only dresses this seems to happen with. I can buy her a shirt and within a month or so, it is too short. Oh it looks fine as long as she doesn’t raise her hands. If she does that, the shirt is half-way up her back.
And don’t get me started on how many of her shorts and skirts never seem to fit right, or if they fit well when bought don’t fit a month or so later. Some of it I chalk up to her growing and some I think may be shrinkage of the clothes when they are washed.
But my dilemma is not that she keeps going through clothes so fast, but that it is impossible to determine what size to buy. It is easier since I have her with me sometimes but the grandparents like to know her size in case they find something while shopping.
Soon after I bought her the Valentine’s dress, I bought another dress in the same size, and it was too big. And sizes are not consistent from store to store. An outfit at Target may be too big, but the same size outfit at Kohl’s might fit fine. It just seems there is no standard in sizing.
I notice this more with Lexie’s clothes than Jase’s. It seems easier to me with him. He is your typical boy and wears shorts and T-shirts all the time. If a shirt is a little too big on him, I don’t worry about it because he will grow into it. If the shirt (or dress) is too big on Lexie, it can just look wrong.
The funny thing is even though they are almost three years apart in age, there are close to the same size in clothes. I am currently buying 5-year-old Lexie size 5 and 6 clothes while eight-year-old Jase is in size 7 or 8. I do think girls clothes just seem to run smaller.
We will be school shopping in just a few weeks, and I am sure the kids will have out grown their summer clothes. I doubt Lexie will fit in most of her clothes from the last school year so it will be a whole new wardrobe for her. As for Jase, luckily for me (and my wallet) he shouldn’t need as much.
Into Another World 