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I have this problem, maybe not so much that the clothes aren't "my style," but my mom has bought a crazy amount of clothing for DD. Like, last time I was at her house, she had one of those plastic storage tubs stuffed full of clothes for the next 2+ years. Plus, some friends are constantly giving us their daughter's outgrown clothes (she's exactly a year older than DD). On one hand, it's nice not to have to spend money, but I feel like I can't ever go and buy anything *I* want to get her because she already has soooo much. Fortunately, most of the stuff my mom gets her is genuinely cute so I don't mind using it. But I totally get the feeling of being preempted by other people's clothing choices and it does bug me sometimes.
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@CakeLady: I know how you feel! My son is two and a half, I've only bought him one shirt, and I'm not even sure what size he wears
We gave away a few things that we definitely weren't going to use as baby shower presents, but still have a ton of extra clothes. I think giving extras to day care is an option, our day care will usually take people's extra clothes, and give them to one of the younger kids who's growing out of theirs, or just keep them as spares in case someone needs a change of clothes.
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Preschool/ play clothes. He comes home from school covered in paint, food and mud. I also make sure to send pictures of him wearing the clothes.
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I send them to daycare in clothes I don't like. My DD comes home in different clothes every day because she gets so messy, so I don't want her nicer clothes getting wrecked. I also save them for the park or pajamas or undershirts for t-shirts.
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backup clothes or donate!
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I just put her in them. I've been in this situation a lot but I try to look at the big picture and realize that we are really fortunate to not have to buy many clothes for LO because of the generosity of loved ones. It is hard to keep that mindset sometimes but I have tried to get over it!
I do dress her in my favorite things more often, especially when we will be together (versus when she is at daycare) and when I know I will be taking pictures of her. So, some gifted clothing does not get worn as much. I just don't stress about that either.
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I was just thinking about this. We have a bunch of onesies and a few pants he hasn't worn at all yet because I put him in the stuff I love first. I do his laundry more than I expected to because he's always spitting up on or having diaper leaks on his sleepers.
I was gifted a few new things, but most of what I was given was hand me downs (mostly nice) or thrift store clothes (not a fan). I feel like some stuff will just get stuck in storage and never worn. I wish my MIL would lay off the thrift store shopping.
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@daniellemybelle: That's how I try to look at it--and it IS hard sometimes, but I also think.....you know, I could spend more money on clothes for LO that she can wear 6 months, tops and I can impress all my friends and strangers with my killer mini style, and in turn make myself feel really cool by extension....or we can save more. And we save more, generally speaking. But sometimes it's hard to give up the cool-by-extension part. =)
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We use them as play clothes but if they are really bad, I exchange them!
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@Anagram: It really is hard! One thing I have a bit of a hard time with in particular is that I prefer "sweet" baby clothes over big girl style clothes. Not that there aren't big girl style clothes that I really love! But if it's me doing the shopping I gravitate toward the rompers and simple styles, because I feel like she is only going to be a baby for so long and she has her whole life to wear sassy big girl outfits! But I just make sure to have a few of those sweet outfits that I love and I dress her in those plenty, while still rotating in the other stuff. I got a sweet yellow romper at Old Navy the other day on clearance for $4 and you better believe she is going to wear the crap out of it this summer.
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@Anagram: those pants are so bad they are almost good. LIke if a baby could wear clothes ironically.
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@Anagram: I can't. I just can't. There are no words for the awesomeness of those pants... (I'm sitting over here crying from laughter at your description and the subsequent picture!)
As to the original question: I put the outfit on when we're staying home, snap a pic, and send it off. The outfit then becomes a play outfit for days we don't go anywhere.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way!
@daniellemybelle: I do feel lucky that I don't have to buy a full wardrobe! Maybe I just need to give myself permission to buy a few things I like, I just have a hard time doing it since we have more than we need already. I am pretty frugal at heart - I just really love baby clothes!
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@Anagram: thanks for the chuckle. My MIL also got T some snazzy Kohls 4th of July goodies.
Do y'all like cats at least?
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I'd probably keep a few things and make sure to take pics, then exchange/sell/donate the rest. We got a couple of items for my daughter that were just SO NOT US. Worst case scenario you can always say that they didn't fit right or something!
My MIL loves to buy stuff for us at Goodwill, which I don't mind, but her taste runs towards the super-girly and we prefer more neutral things. It took a lot of training but after a year she finally runs things past us first, and is mostly avoids the frills.
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He wears a lot of it. He goes through clothes hard and fast so I'm airways grateful for extra. If I really don't like it (I really dislike pretty much all graphics, for example), he just wears it to daycare. He's getting opinionated about his clothes, though, so I just suck it up.
Whatever is still wearable when he outgrows it gets donated to a local women and children's domestic violence shelter (same with toys and books).
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My MIL loves buying super discounted clearance clothes that she finds on the internet and always takes the tags off too. A lot aren't even season appropriate. I have a lot of thick fleece sleepers that would only fit her this summer that she could never wear because we live where its hot. once she goes to daycare they want several outfits left in the cubbies at all times so I will leave those clothes there.
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@Anagram: lol!
I usually put him in things! I've regifted a couple things. Some things with weird sayings are not my style, but my friend loves them so I gave her a couple when she had a baby a few months after me.
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I actually really try to put him in everything once. I know the gift giver likes to see it or I can say he wore it without fibbing.
Once it's worn once I don't feel bad ignoring it in the drawer and donating later.
Good idea to use in diaper bag, never thought of that.
I only return stuff from my MIL because she is an insane person and brings an outfit each time she visits (weekly) and many times it's something he already has. So I exchange for something in the next size up. And I'm honest and tell her that's what I did. -
It depends on how much I dislike the item. If it's that I don't care for the style or color, I will probably keep it and use it on days when I need to do laundry or I know he'll get really dirty. If it's that I dislike what the shirt says (I really don't like shirts that have sayings like ladies man or heartbreaker) I would probably donate it.
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Honestly, I don't have the energy to care. My mom buys most of my son's clothes. It sort of annoys me that I don't get to pick them out, but it's one less chore for me. I let whoever's dressing him pick out his outfit, and I just pick the stuff I actually like for the times I am hanging out with him.
I think this would be a bigger issue if I had a girl though. I can't stand pink/purple sparkly unicorn rainbow puppy stuff.
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I would re-home or pass them on to friends (if in excellent condition). I prefer to cycle through the nicer items I like since they grow out so fast!
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If I can't return it my first option is to ebay it. I've sold some hideous stuff on ebay before, it may not be my taste but someone else might love it.
If that fails, then its spare clothes at granny's, and if its really just ughhh it goes to the donation bins.
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I was going to ask if he's in daycare - you just scored a bunch of backup clothes!
My mom keeps buying DS clothes that are too small. She never bothers to ask me what size he is and randomly goes on a shopping spree. For now I put them in his outgrown bags in case we have lo#2 eventually.
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@Modern Daisy: I have a loved one who buys LO clothes in sizes that are different than what I have told her LO is wearing. She looks at them and feels like some brands and/or items run bigger or smaller. Of course, that is true, but it would be easier for me for her to just get them all in the same size and LO will wear them when they fit, rather than trying to guess what will fit perfectly now and end up with things that are too small or fit so perfectly that she outgrows them before getting much wear. (I am in the "buy a little big to get the most use" camp.) In our case, we can't really just put them in the outgrown pile. Our loved one wants to see her in the outfits so then I have to exchange them - or try to remember to dress her in the clothes before she outgrows them if they are a perfect fit.
I really am grateful, I swear!
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There will come a time when your LO will soil his/her clothes faster than you can count. Until then, sell, exchange, give-away or just send it off to the cubby at daycare.
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@Anagram: Your description reminded me of these AWESOME (snark) pants I saw in target last week. I wanted to ironically buy them for my SIL's girls just to see the reaction (I bet at least one of the girls would LOVE them!)
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My girls have nine aunts and a semi-retired shopaholic grandfather. I just came back from visiting with a suitcase that was 14lbs heavier than when we arrived. I could easily never have to buy kids clothes but I still do because I take some joy in it
We live in another country so most of what we get I couldn't return if I wanted to. If it is truly awful I'll donate it but I'm usually able to at least get one use out of the stuff I don't care for.
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return if I can, or I send them to daycare/put in diaper bag as back up if I can. I used to care a lot more when LO1 was younger, now I'm just like YAY less for me to buy
We gave away a few things that we definitely weren't going to use as baby shower presents, but still have a ton of extra clothes. I think giving extras to day care is an option, our day care will usually take people's extra clothes, and give them to one of the younger kids who's growing out of theirs, or just keep them as spares in case someone needs a change of clothes.
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