Parents who don’t care about their child’s appearance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here and my reply got jumbled.

They are very anti consumerism, but also shop on amazon for everything sooo *shrug*. They are ridiculously frugal.

But what is more “frugal”: buying well made clothes that last longer and look nice but are a little more expensive?

Or buying extremely cheap clothes off Amazon or HM that fade and fall apart and are covered in pills?

My kids are between 5-10 and right now I am doing the latter - LE and Target clothes only. When they are teens, I am willing to spend more on their preferences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not about money.

Try keeping a 2.5 year old in perfect expensive clothing when they are on the playground, in dirt, mud, painting, getting sweaty, eating. I’d rather them just be a kid and play them worry about keeping a shirt starched. And hair...everyday is a battle to brush or get it nice.

I buy target play clothes because it’s cheap, convenient, looks ok, and if it gets destroyed, grown out of, lost in a bottomless cubby it doesn’t matter.

Just let the kids play. When they are older want want to wear nicer stuff, we will get nicer stuff and they will need to be more careful.

Yeah, I don’t buy it. I have two very active kids who start out the day being clean, brushed and put together and encourage them to get as dirty and sweaty as they want. But they start the morning looking like someone loves them.

BTW, more expensive clothing like Hanna Andersen lasts longer and releases stains better than cheap clothes which saves money in the long run. And even filthy, they look better.

I am really starting to dislike these HA, Boden and Tea Collection posters. Trust me, I've waited for sales and coupons and what not, its a lot of energy to spend on freaking *kids clothes* and they are expensive as hell if you buy them randomly. And I have 2 girls, and they do look worn out after so many washes. Only a few of them can be really handed down.

OP here and really? My second son is wearing HA shorts and a t shirt today. I got both second hand (off FB) when my FIRST son was born. So the outfit is 5 years old and basically 3rd hand. The colors are bright, no stretching or pills. The PJs are all the same.

Sorry not been my experience. Many of their HA t-shirts and leggings got a weird oil kinda stain on them. Many of their Tea Collection dresses faded after a couple of washes.

[Anonymous]

I am fascinated by parents with perfectly coiffed kids. I have twins. Sometimes they look great and sometimes they are a mess. My thing daughters hair is always brushes but doesn't have the tight ponytail going. Do parents yank their kids hair and hold them down to get that look.

Both my husband and I are academics, so we totally fall into the crunch category. We are anti conspicuous consumption and do get as much possible second hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The parents are too self-involved and “busy” to care what their kids look like.

Or maybe they care about things other then appearances!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents are too self-involved and “busy” to care what their kids look like.

Or maybe they care about things other then appearances!

Like themselves?

[Anonymous]

We are relatively well off parents who have 4 degrees between us (Well, just DCUM middle class I guess?) and my kid may be what you consider disheveled. I brush his teeth and comb his hair and I try my hardest to cut his hair at home because he screams at the barber. But lots of his clothes are hand me downs and I don’t mind him wearing faded clothes that are clean. He is also a messy eater. If you caught us out at Target in the afternoon, you might judge — his hair always sticks up 10 min after I fix it and it’s worse if he was playing. We are probably shopping after the playground or lunch, so his clothes are bound to have something on them. But he is happy and healthy and well cared for. He runs outside everyday and we play in mud and reads lots of books. The money we don’t spend on designer clothing is going into college savings. Those are the things I care about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are relatively well off parents who have 4 degrees between us (Well, just DCUM middle class I guess?) and my kid may be what you consider disheveled. I brush his teeth and comb his hair and I try my hardest to cut his hair at home because he screams at the barber. But lots of his clothes are hand me downs and I don’t mind him wearing faded clothes that are clean. He is also a messy eater. If you caught us out at Target in the afternoon, you might judge — his hair always sticks up 10 min after I fix it and it’s worse if he was playing. We are probably shopping after the playground or lunch, so his clothes are bound to have something on them. But he is happy and healthy and well cared for. He runs outside everyday and we play in mud and reads lots of books. The money we don’t spend on designer clothing is going into college savings. Those are the things I care about.

Your kid can play with my kid. Can't keep his hair neat, either. Harry Potter hair.

Most of the women on this thread seem shallow. They are trying to couch it as "concern" for the kids, but they are really just shallow weirdos.

[Anonymous]

OP here and my nieces don’t really look unkept. I only noticed after caring for them for a week that their clothes are terrible. Polyester, pills, rips, etc. Why do people such cheap, itchy, poor quality clothing?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here and my nieces don’t really look unkept. I only noticed after caring for them for a week that their clothes are terrible. Polyester, pills, rips, etc. Why do people such cheap, itchy, poor quality clothing?!

If it bothers you so much, why don’t you gift them a bunch of new organic all cotton clothing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here and my nieces don’t really look unkept. I only noticed after caring for them for a week that their clothes are terrible. Polyester, pills, rips, etc. Why do people such cheap, itchy, poor quality clothing?!

Because many kids love them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are relatively well off parents who have 4 degrees between us (Well, just DCUM middle class I guess?) and my kid may be what you consider disheveled. I brush his teeth and comb his hair and I try my hardest to cut his hair at home because he screams at the barber. But lots of his clothes are hand me downs and I don’t mind him wearing faded clothes that are clean. He is also a messy eater. If you caught us out at Target in the afternoon, you might judge — his hair always sticks up 10 min after I fix it and it’s worse if he was playing. We are probably shopping after the playground or lunch, so his clothes are bound to have something on them. But he is happy and healthy and well cared for. He runs outside everyday and we play in mud and reads lots of books. The money we don’t spend on designer clothing is going into college savings. Those are the things I care about.

Your kid can play with my kid. Can't keep his hair neat, either. Harry Potter hair.

Most of the women on this thread seem shallow. They are trying to couch it as "concern" for the kids, but they are really just shallow weirdos.

Yep, Harry Potter hair!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here and my nieces don’t really look unkept. I only noticed after caring for them for a week that their clothes are terrible. Polyester, pills, rips, etc. Why do people such cheap, itchy, poor quality clothing?!

If it bothers you so much, why don’t you gift them a bunch of new organic all cotton clothing?

I do give them clothing (just from target) for birthdays and Christmas and they love it.

[Anonymous]

What brands are HM and LE?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here and my nieces don’t really look unkept. I only noticed after caring for them for a week that their clothes are terrible. Polyester, pills, rips, etc. Why do people such cheap, itchy, poor quality clothing?!

We have both. Given the choice between a Hanna Andersson tee and some ugly Lego shirt he’ll slways choose the Lego one. It’s his body and I let him decide. I do think the HA is better quality but I’m also on a budget, have one fast growing kid and not a lot of time or energy for resale. I prefer to donate what he’s outgrown

[Anonymous]

I don’t have the energy or the interest to keep up with the sale cycles, consignment shopping, buying name brand kid’s clothes and then selling on FB/consignment, etc. It’s tedious to me. My kid wears Kohl’s, Target, Walmart, Children’s Place stuff and sometimes I will get more expensive name brands like UA and Nike at TJ Maxx. My toddler doesn’t care what he looks like, just that he’s comfortable and can manage his own clothing (so no pants buttons and zippers at this point). He’s not an extension of me - he’s his own little person with his own needs for his clothing.