Baby Clothing Snobbery

If you see me walking around town with blood all over my clothes, don't worry. I probably haven't been shot or subject to some kind of medical emergency; it's just my wallet bleeding all over me.

Baby clothes. It never ends! I didn't really feel it so much with the first kid. Maybe because he was a boy, which is inherently less fun when it comes to clothing shopping, and his transitions between clothing sizes tended to coincide nicely with the changes in seasons. This time around, I just feel like I am buying clothes CONSTANTLY. It's a new wardrobe twice every season.

I am starting to warm to the idea of hand-me-downs. I confess - I am kind of a baby-clothes snob. I mean, not in the sense that I must have only the best name brands; my kids' closets have their fair share of Target and Carter's clothes (and maybe a few more cost-prohibitive name brands thrown in for fun). I just have a certain style that I like for the two of them. I don't like dressing them in play-clothes. Liam's basically a mini frat boy - khakis or jeans with a polo. Macy's pretty moderate - girly but not too much so, stylish but not pretentious. Jeggings and a cute top are my favorite for her.

It's hard to find available hand-me-downs that are to my liking, but I need to stop turning my nose up at things that are slightly worn and that may not quite be my favorite. All for the sake of our (not currently pending) retirement and a down payment on a house (because we won't be walking away from closing on this one with anything in our pockets anytime soon).

I am giving ThredUP.com a try. I posted 3 boxes of Liam's 2T stuff, and I just ordered some 24-month winter clothes for Macy. We'll see how I like them. The idea is that you give away your stuff free of charge (they send you flat-rate boxes, which you fill and post on the site, and when someone buys, you print out a packing slip). Each time someone orders one of your boxes, you get credits of about $2-$4 on buying others' boxes (depending on how in-demand the size of clothes you are sending off are). It's $5 for the box and $10.95 for shipping, which is payable to ThredUP.

I don't know yet if I like it, as I have not completed any outgoing transactions and haven't received the incoming clothes yet. It's a great concept for those who are really into secondhand items, which I strive to be one day.

I will also need to get over my attachment to my kids' clothes. I CANNOT give them to Goodwill, and I haven't really been able to bring myself to take them to consignment, either. I simply like to know where they are going. All of Liam's clothes through 24 mos. and Macy's through 3-6 mos. have been handed over to be loved by other babies, and ideally by other babies whose pictures might show up on Facebook sporting the clothes. I don't know why I am like that. It feels REALLY good, though, to get them out of the house.

Many prayers are said, of course, that I never have to ask for them back.