Why talk about "Mama Guilt," you ask? Because I think it’s good to share our Mama Guilt so we know we are not alone. We all struggle in this wonderful, chaotic, ever challenging thing called motherhood! See the Linky at the bottom of this post to link up.
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Here’s today’s optional prompt:
Hand-me Downs, Thrift Stores, & Garage Sales for YOUR Kid's Clothes? What's YOUR Secret?
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I was attempting to get caught up on my scrapbooking (I’m like 3 years behind), and look what I found:
This is Sprout when he was about 16 months old (Nov. 2007.)
Then, as I was looking at more recent photos, I found this one:
Here is Cubbie from this past winter.
Notice anything??? Yes, the same EXACT clothing! Talk about Mama Guilt!
But when you have two boys, and the hand me downs from one child matches the same seasons for the second one, why not use them? Do I go buy all new clothes, especially outerwear, when it’s still in perfectly good condition? What would YOU do?
I don’t have a “secret” so much but I buy pants from Children’s Place (on sale, coupons, points card) then I buy less expensive tops from Target or Kohl's. With my little guys, the pants are what take a beating! Plus, I’m always happy when I find a good clearance rack item or happen upon a garage sale.
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Do YOU have any Mama Guilt on your mind today? Here’s what you do:
1. Blog about YOUR Mama Guilt, funny or serious. Using the prompt is optional.
2. Mention “Mama Guilt Mondays” in your post by putting a link back here or copy/paste the button into the HTML.
3. If you want, you can grab the Linky BlogHop code and paste it into your blog HTML, so others can join.
4. Enter the link for your post into the Linky.
Or share YOUR Mama Guilt in the comments below!
*Dads are welcome here too!
23 comments:
nice. yeah its funny to look at pics of my boys and watch the clothes pass through the pics...i actually wrote one called "second hand underwear" that i will post later this week...
I have SOOO many pictures of my girls in the same clothes. I am definately guilty of lots of hand-me-downs! :)
I think it would be weird to NOT hand-me-down!! Although, you are right, boys really do put their clothes through the ringer! Those pictures of your angels are just precious!!!
Blessings-
Amanda
we love hand me downs.. We have a few girls that lived around here and we all shared clothes until they caught up in size.. Now it is time to buy again..
Hand-me downs all the way for my 2nd son! In fact my boys really don't look alike but people are always telling me how much my younger looks like my older and I really think it's just because he's wearing the same type of clothes they remember my older one wearing!
My hand-me-downs come from my two nephews whom my sis-in-law used to dress alike. So I'd get the same shirt in a size 4 and a size 5. Mr. Lego looked like he never grew and was wearing the same clothes for two years! However, the amount of money that I've saved by not having to purchase as many clothes for him is HUGE! I'm thankful for family who buys well-made clothing and passes it on down to my kiddos!
There were not too many hand-me downs at my house. Girl. . . firstborn. . . boy . . . second born. My the time the third was born all the hand-me downs were gone. The mama guilt that I have is all about taking more pictures of my daughter than my boys. I feel just awful about this . . . talk about MAMA GUILT. Thanks for letting me share.
God bless.
Bren
Ah yes. With three boys, there is plenty of that to go around. The good news/bad news is as they get older they beat up their clothes more and more, so there is less and less to pass along. Eli will win in this realm for sure!
um.... 98% of my kids clothing is hand me downs or garage sale or thrift shop stuff. or at least super duper clearance. I even saved some gender neutral outfits from my daughter in hopes it would look ok on my son!! ;)
Julia
www.workwifemomlife.com
With 4 kids (3 boys) you can bet we are saving and taking all the hand-me-downs we can get! I'm really bad about clothes, though. I don't like to shop! I know...I know...I'm weird, but I really like to shop for "fun" stuff - like games, toys, electronics...I don't like to shop for essentials like food and clothes. So - I LOVE hand-me-downs from other people because it means less shopping for me!
Once in a while I still get hand me downs in great condition for my kids, so no worries. And my daughter likes to pick out clothes from her brother that are too small for him for herself.
And in answer to your question, the cold here is obviously not as cold as what you have experienced recently. But give me a little credit, I have lived in Oregon where it gets snow and ice and high winds and below zero temps in the winter time, so do understand your kinda cold. But still, when the weather is in the 50's there is no sun in sight and the wind is coming in gusts off of the nearby bay making the tempurature outside that much colder and all the kids' hands and noses are bright red, I think I can still define it as very, very cold. Notice I did not say freezing because it was definitely not freezing just very, very cold :)
You should feel no guilt over that! Be proud that you're saving some money!
Lady wisdom! You are smart to pass down clothes etc. I've been told that jackets and snow suits etc if needed to be purchased ~ to do so in neutral colors. This way no matter that we have boy & girl we can reuse. This was a great topic. I suspect that many are passing down clothing in these hard days. It's been done for years. My mother was the oldest and her clothes were passed down 5 kids all the way down to my aunt; who was actually fortunate to get some new stuff b/c the used was so tattered. LOL
Cheers! I've linked up!
Hey, there's no shame in hand me downs, or shopping at Target/Walmart for clothes. Clothes are expensive and boys are rough and tumble. I have several pieces of clothes that I saved from my oldest, who is 5 years olders, so that my youngest can wear the same outfit. I have jackets, nice pants, shirts, even a robe!
Nothing at all wrong with passing on clothes, espeically at that age where they outgrown everything so quickly
How long do you leave the Linky open?
Thinkin' I might try to join in later!
Trust me, with three boys and the oldest being 9 and the youngest 15 months, I can't believe that these clothes hold up this long. The shirts...not as much...but the pants, WOW. L-boy is wearing some today that my 9 year old wore when he was a baby. CRAZY. But hey..why re-invent the wheel!
Hey...that was my jacket when I was that age...lol.
As the first born I never had hand-me-downs, but my little sister...she HATED hand-me-downs.
My second & third sons wore many pre-loved clothes of the the first! This never really bothered them much.
Your little boys are just adorable. I love my boys very, very much but I do miss those early innocent years. Your photos are just lovely!
You can't consider it mama guilt until you dress your young baby son in your daughter's old p.j.'s ;) Yep...I've done it!
My poor daughter wears her brother's hand-me-downs. Actually found her a girl coat at fantastic price and she was so excited about her NEW coat!
There's a group of us that pass clothes and shoes around...at some point they're going to wear out, but for now it's sweet to see one of the younger ones wearing clothes I remember. I certainly don't feel guilty about it! I think about the food we're buying with the money we're not spending on clothes they'll wear for a nano-second. :)
As a grandma of a bunch of sweet adorables, hand me downs aren't a guilty pleasure - just a pleasure :) There is one downside to them if your kids look a lot alike. I have photos of my kids when they were young and, because of hand-me-downs, I can't remember which child is which. They all looked alike at the ages they each fit into the outfits. LOL :)
Enjoyed visiting your site for the Ultimate Blog Party and seeing your own little adorables! :)
Have a blessed week.
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