Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I care about how my daughter looks. But I care less about how she “looks” than I care about her having a fun and enriching childhood, filled with exploration of different foods, mud, water, and fresh cut grass.

I also care less about her “looks” than I do about my own tine. I have no desire t spend hours coming through listservs, contacting people, and driving all over to buy single items just because they might looks nicer, when I can buy a whole wardrobe in a few places. I have no drive or desire to the resell these same items and deal with 86 emails with people negotiang me down $2,waiting for no-shows, all for a sweater or dress. I have no desire to spend hours stain treating items so they keep their value (don’t get me wrong, I do stain treat, but I’m less worried about a TShirt I spent a few dollars on if I don’t get a stain out). I have no desire to fuss over clothing that it seems will fit my child for barely a hot minute before they’re too small.

I guess everyone has priorities. Mine is to actually enjoy my child and our life, not to worry about people like you.

please stop implying that if a child is dressed nicely they are not allowed to play and that the parent must have had spent days shopping through facebook groups (what?). if you have the money and are willing to spend it you can easily dress your child to look nice while wearing comfortable high quality clothes. my oldest DD wore gucci sneakers to playground that looked phenomenal, got a lot of compliments and she never faced no restrictions whatsoever regarding dirtiness of her play. i would much rather spend on everyday clothing that on "special occasion" crap that gets worn once a year and doesn't even look good in most cases.

And stop implying that people who don’t care about spending loads on clothes that are just going to get stained and outgrowing in 30seconds “don’t care”. We have some high quality items, and some items from Old Navy. DD is usually coordinated. She has my hair, so she’s pretty much cursed in that regard.

There are some areas, that to some families, “high quality”doesn’t matter. Clothes seem to be one of them, if you look around. We don’t even spend a fortune on “special occasion crap”.

FWIW, I also find it hilarious that you had to name brand drop. My child has gotten plenty of compliments on cheap items we’ve gotten in Europe, or heck, Canada (Joe Fresh). Kids in general are cute no matter what you put them in. Some of the widest compliments I’ve gotten were on a Fisher Price matching set that DD got as a gift. I know it was from Costco and probably cost under $15.

outgrowing in 30 seconds is the biggest bullshit excuse of all. i guess this is the reason why 50% of kids on shoes at least a size larger. i have 3 kids and even newborn clothes were worn for more than a month by each.

i know that american parents don't want to spend on clothing (this is why beauty and fashion forum is full of middle-aged women desperate for advice on "how look put together" and "why do french women look good") i and couldn't care less why most kids are so poorly dressed... i merely resent the implication that well dressed kids are not allowed to play or that they look like "princesses". well dressed women don't look like princesses and neither do well dressed children. my kids were among the first to swim, ride bikes and do money bars.. and do it while looking nice.

You buy shoes a bit larger as kids can grow quickly and out people don't want to replace shoes every month. My kid likes them roomier. He has tiny feet so I'm waiting for that growth spurt.

Clothing can be expensive if you don't buy it on clearance. Not everyone can afford expensive clothing. You clearly can but some us would rather do things like pay for college and activities.

Anonymous wrote:Target clothes are pretty expensive.

They used be cheaper and have good clearances but not anymore. I just got some kid jeans for $4 each but now I do better at clearances else where.

My mom is always dressed beautifully and I was always dressed like a slob as a kid. Unfortunately it's more or less lasted through adulthood. In terms of clothes, I just take after my dad - he and I both hold onto clothes forever.

I do feel badly for the kids who are forced to wear uncomfortable clothes, or who prefer something they aren't allowed to wear. But it's cute when kids are dressed well, sure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I care about how my daughter looks. But I care less about how she “looks” than I care about her having a fun and enriching childhood, filled with exploration of different foods, mud, water, and fresh cut grass.

I also care less about her “looks” than I do about my own tine. I have no desire t spend hours coming through listservs, contacting people, and driving all over to buy single items just because they might looks nicer, when I can buy a whole wardrobe in a few places. I have no drive or desire to the resell these same items and deal with 86 emails with people negotiang me down $2,waiting for no-shows, all for a sweater or dress. I have no desire to spend hours stain treating items so they keep their value (don’t get me wrong, I do stain treat, but I’m less worried about a TShirt I spent a few dollars on if I don’t get a stain out). I have no desire to fuss over clothing that it seems will fit my child for barely a hot minute before they’re too small.

I guess everyone has priorities. Mine is to actually enjoy my child and our life, not to worry about people like you.

please stop implying that if a child is dressed nicely they are not allowed to play and that the parent must have had spent days shopping through facebook groups (what?). if you have the money and are willing to spend it you can easily dress your child to look nice while wearing comfortable high quality clothes. my oldest DD wore gucci sneakers to playground that looked phenomenal, got a lot of compliments and she never faced no restrictions whatsoever regarding dirtiness of her play. i would much rather spend on everyday clothing that on "special occasion" crap that gets worn once a year and doesn't even look good in most cases.

And stop implying that people who don’t care about spending loads on clothes that are just going to get stained and outgrowing in 30seconds “don’t care”. We have some high quality items, and some items from Old Navy. DD is usually coordinated. She has my hair, so she’s pretty much cursed in that regard.

There are some areas, that to some families, “high quality”doesn’t matter. Clothes seem to be one of them, if you look around. We don’t even spend a fortune on “special occasion crap”.

FWIW, I also find it hilarious that you had to name brand drop. My child has gotten plenty of compliments on cheap items we’ve gotten in Europe, or heck, Canada (Joe Fresh). Kids in general are cute no matter what you put them in. Some of the widest compliments I’ve gotten were on a Fisher Price matching set that DD got as a gift. I know it was from Costco and probably cost under $15.

outgrowing in 30 seconds is the biggest bullshit excuse of all. i guess this is the reason why 50% of kids on shoes at least a size larger. i have 3 kids and even newborn clothes were worn for more than a month by each.

i know that american parents don't want to spend on clothing (this is why beauty and fashion forum is full of middle-aged women desperate for advice on "how look put together" and "why do french women look good") i and couldn't care less why most kids are so poorly dressed... i merely resent the implication that well dressed kids are not allowed to play or that they look like "princesses". well dressed women don't look like princesses and neither do well dressed children. my kids were among the first to swim, ride bikes and do money bars.. and do it while looking nice.

Putting your kid in shoes that are ergonically incorrect (wrong size) just to look nice is about as ignorant ias it gets.

The worst dressed kids I know have a big law partner for a dad and live in North arlington.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I care about how my daughter looks. But I care less about how she “looks” than I care about her having a fun and enriching childhood, filled with exploration of different foods, mud, water, and fresh cut grass.

I also care less about her “looks” than I do about my own tine. I have no desire t spend hours coming through listservs, contacting people, and driving all over to buy single items just because they might looks nicer, when I can buy a whole wardrobe in a few places. I have no drive or desire to the resell these same items and deal with 86 emails with people negotiang me down $2,waiting for no-shows, all for a sweater or dress. I have no desire to spend hours stain treating items so they keep their value (don’t get me wrong, I do stain treat, but I’m less worried about a TShirt I spent a few dollars on if I don’t get a stain out). I have no desire to fuss over clothing that it seems will fit my child for barely a hot minute before they’re too small.

I guess everyone has priorities. Mine is to actually enjoy my child and our life, not to worry about people like you.

please stop implying that if a child is dressed nicely they are not allowed to play and that the parent must have had spent days shopping through facebook groups (what?). if you have the money and are willing to spend it you can easily dress your child to look nice while wearing comfortable high quality clothes. my oldest DD wore gucci sneakers to playground that looked phenomenal, got a lot of compliments and she never faced no restrictions whatsoever regarding dirtiness of her play. i would much rather spend on everyday clothing that on "special occasion" crap that gets worn once a year and doesn't even look good in most cases.

And stop implying that people who don’t care about spending loads on clothes that are just going to get stained and outgrowing in 30seconds “don’t care”. We have some high quality items, and some items from Old Navy. DD is usually coordinated. She has my hair, so she’s pretty much cursed in that regard.

There are some areas, that to some families, “high quality”doesn’t matter. Clothes seem to be one of them, if you look around. We don’t even spend a fortune on “special occasion crap”.

FWIW, I also find it hilarious that you had to name brand drop. My child has gotten plenty of compliments on cheap items we’ve gotten in Europe, or heck, Canada (Joe Fresh). Kids in general are cute no matter what you put them in. Some of the widest compliments I’ve gotten were on a Fisher Price matching set that DD got as a gift. I know it was from Costco and probably cost under $15.

outgrowing in 30 seconds is the biggest bullshit excuse of all. i guess this is the reason why 50% of kids on shoes at least a size larger. i have 3 kids and even newborn clothes were worn for more than a month by each.

i know that american parents don't want to spend on clothing (this is why beauty and fashion forum is full of middle-aged women desperate for advice on "how look put together" and "why do french women look good") i and couldn't care less why most kids are so poorly dressed... i merely resent the implication that well dressed kids are not allowed to play or that they look like "princesses". well dressed women don't look like princesses and neither do well dressed children. my kids were among the first to swim, ride bikes and do money bars.. and do it while looking nice.

Target clothes are pretty expensive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I care about how my daughter looks. But I care less about how she “looks” than I care about her having a fun and enriching childhood, filled with exploration of different foods, mud, water, and fresh cut grass.

I also care less about her “looks” than I do about my own tine. I have no desire t spend hours coming through listservs, contacting people, and driving all over to buy single items just because they might looks nicer, when I can buy a whole wardrobe in a few places. I have no drive or desire to the resell these same items and deal with 86 emails with people negotiang me down $2,waiting for no-shows, all for a sweater or dress. I have no desire to spend hours stain treating items so they keep their value (don’t get me wrong, I do stain treat, but I’m less worried about a TShirt I spent a few dollars on if I don’t get a stain out). I have no desire to fuss over clothing that it seems will fit my child for barely a hot minute before they’re too small.

I guess everyone has priorities. Mine is to actually enjoy my child and our life, not to worry about people like you.

please stop implying that if a child is dressed nicely they are not allowed to play and that the parent must have had spent days shopping through facebook groups (what?). if you have the money and are willing to spend it you can easily dress your child to look nice while wearing comfortable high quality clothes. my oldest DD wore gucci sneakers to playground that looked phenomenal, got a lot of compliments and she never faced no restrictions whatsoever regarding dirtiness of her play. i would much rather spend on everyday clothing that on "special occasion" crap that gets worn once a year and doesn't even look good in most cases.

And stop implying that people who don’t care about spending loads on clothes that are just going to get stained and outgrowing in 30seconds “don’t care”. We have some high quality items, and some items from Old Navy. DD is usually coordinated. She has my hair, so she’s pretty much cursed in that regard.

There are some areas, that to some families, “high quality”doesn’t matter. Clothes seem to be one of them, if you look around. We don’t even spend a fortune on “special occasion crap”.

FWIW, I also find it hilarious that you had to name brand drop. My child has gotten plenty of compliments on cheap items we’ve gotten in Europe, or heck, Canada (Joe Fresh). Kids in general are cute no matter what you put them in. Some of the widest compliments I’ve gotten were on a Fisher Price matching set that DD got as a gift. I know it was from Costco and probably cost under $15.

Anonymous wrote:My kids have always looked nice. I take pride in how they look. It does not bother me what other people wear.

My kids look much nicer than I do. I mean, they are wearing shorts and t-shirts in the summer, but my son wears khaki shorts and a nice t-shirt and my daughter wears clamdigger shorts and a nice t-shirt or tunic. They are 4 and 18 months. We buy from Target, Carters, and a few shirts on sale from Tea, mostly because I like their styles -- and they have worn well, but not to a magical extent like other posters claim. (I like Old Navy style but find that the shirts fall to pieces after just a couple of washes. I don't have this problem with Target or Carters.)

Still - they are kids. Stuff gets stained. I try to get the stains out, and I try to have a few non-stained shirts for them to wear on weekends and just send them to day care in the stained stuff, but usually about 2/3 of the way through the season (like now) the pickings are getting slim. I won't dress them in anything that is not clean (as in, washed and dried) or ripped, or excessively pilled -- but stains? Yeah, they're going to wear lightly stained clothes.

Also, hair. My son's hair is thick and has just a slight wave, so it's easy to keep in check. Even roughed up it looks decent. My poor daughter inherited my fine, wavy, fly-away-prone hair. It is very hard to manage. She starts the day with it neatly in a half-pony and the shorter back ends curling cutely, but within about 2 hours her hair is a mess. I fix it periodically and her teachers do too, but I'm not going to spend the whole day tugging on her hair in lieu of letting her just play. And chopping it short doesn't help. It would have to be practically in a crew cut to stay out of her face and I'm not going to do that to a girl.

Anonymous wrote:I care about how my daughter looks. But I care less about how she “looks” than I care about her having a fun and enriching childhood, filled with exploration of different foods, mud, water, and fresh cut grass.

I also care less about her “looks” than I do about my own tine. I have no desire t spend hours coming through listservs, contacting people, and driving all over to buy single items just because they might looks nicer, when I can buy a whole wardrobe in a few places. I have no drive or desire to the resell these same items and deal with 86 emails with people negotiang me down $2,waiting for no-shows, all for a sweater or dress. I have no desire to spend hours stain treating items so they keep their value (don’t get me wrong, I do stain treat, but I’m less worried about a TShirt I spent a few dollars on if I don’t get a stain out). I have no desire to fuss over clothing that it seems will fit my child for barely a hot minute before they’re too small.

I guess everyone has priorities. Mine is to actually enjoy my child and our life, not to worry about people like you.

please stop implying that if a child is dressed nicely they are not allowed to play and that the parent must have had spent days shopping through facebook groups (what?). if you have the money and are willing to spend it you can easily dress your child to look nice while wearing comfortable high quality clothes. my oldest DD wore gucci sneakers to playground that looked phenomenal, got a lot of compliments and she never faced no restrictions whatsoever regarding dirtiness of her play. i would much rather spend on everyday clothing that on "special occasion" crap that gets worn once a year and doesn't even look good in most cases.

It’s not that hard to shop sales at higher quality places like HA and Boden. Those places are constantly having sales. If you don’t like the styles, that’s fine, but the quality difference between places like that and Target is undeniable. My 2 year old’s HA and Boden clothes still look new after tons of washes and stains, whereas the Target clothes just fall apart.

PP here all items are like new. Some never worn. My DD isn’t hard on clothes, plus I am meticulous about stain treatments and have a spectacular routine to get stains out.

My suggestion.... Shout Advanced in the kids bathroom. Stain treat their clothes after they get in the tub/shower. Makes a huge difference to catch the stains when fresh.

I care about how my daughter looks. But I care less about how she “looks” than I care about her having a fun and enriching childhood, filled with exploration of different foods, mud, water, and fresh cut grass.

I also care less about her “looks” than I do about my own tine. I have no desire t spend hours coming through listservs, contacting people, and driving all over to buy single items just because they might looks nicer, when I can buy a whole wardrobe in a few places. I have no drive or desire to the resell these same items and deal with 86 emails with people negotiang me down $2,waiting for no-shows, all for a sweater or dress. I have no desire to spend hours stain treating items so they keep their value (don’t get me wrong, I do stain treat, but I’m less worried about a TShirt I spent a few dollars on if I don’t get a stain out). I have no desire to fuss over clothing that it seems will fit my child for barely a hot minute before they’re too small.

I guess everyone has priorities. Mine is to actually enjoy my child and our life, not to worry about people like you.

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.

I am about to drop off a huge garbage bag filled with Hanna leggings, north face jacket -new w tags. Nordstrom wouldn’t take back- Hanna undershirts and underwear. All size 5/100. The Salvation Army in Manassas. Last week dropped off Footmates shoes, BrooksBrothers women’s blouses. I’d rather the tax write off then selling. Selling is a PITA.

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.

Plus I just can't justify the price when my kid outgrows her clothing so fast.