Wardrobe Malfunctions

Okay, I know a lot of y'all out there have this same problem.  But, for some reason, this year it's really getting to me.  What is it?

new season + major growth spurts + one mom "slightly" behind in her back to school shopping = CHAOS

This weekend, fall came.  Like, overnight.  It was a sweaty, humid 78 degrees on Friday, and then on Saturday we woke up to 40 degree temperatures.  And no sweaters, sweatshirts, or jackets that fit.  And I can't find their hats.  Forget the mittens and gloves--there's only unmatching ones of each floating around in oblivion...

Oh, and the kiddos feet grew.  Again.

I swear, this is a never ending problem around here and in almost every other household in the world.  I'm sure somewhere there is a mother who lovingly collects larger sizes of every piece of clothing, underwear, outerwear, and shoes for her sweetie darlings.  I'm sure she has these bits and bobs organized by size and season for each gender child.  No doubt she has her munchkins' holiday clothes all washed and ironed, and has well fitting snow boots and snow pants lined up for the first snow.

Me?  I found out the kids' rain boots didn't fit two weeks ago when the biblical rains around here started.  Poor WMB hobbled around in 2-sizes-too-small "fireman" boots for almost a week before I found replacements (and not even on sale, dammit.  Or, with a coupon.) Forget DQ's boots, since they were a size 2 and she wears a 5.  Plus, DQ sniffed at the idea of rain boots and just wore her already-too-small sparkly silver ballet flats (how can an 8 year old have size 6-7 women's feet?  She is already pirating my heels!) every single day to jump in puddles.

Now, back when they were babies and toddlers, this was never a problem.  We had tons of hand-me-downs from every Lucy and Ethel in my life.  Any holes in the wardrobe were easily filled at the local consignment shop, and those clothes were adorable and hardly worn since kids only wore an outfit or shoes a few times before outgrowing them.  Now, the growth spurts are less predictable and the kids' wear their clothes and shoes out before outgrowing them.  Plus, anyone who has shopped at consignment shops lately knows that they have tons of little kids clothes, but after size 8 or so, there's almost nothing. 

Also, in the past, I bought tons of clothes at the end of the season clearance sales that were the size I guessed my munchkins would be the following year.  Yep, can't do that anymore either.  I wasted a small fortune buying "50% off the lowest marked price--up to 70% off!" clothes to find out my kids outgrew them before they were ever worn.  After taking one too many bags of brand new, with the tags still on, clothes to the consignment shop, I gave up on that practice.

So now, I wait til they grow and go shopping.  Which puts me in a bad situation.  Like this weekend.  I needed sweatshirts, sweatpants, and sweaters (non "hoochie mamma" or "bad a$$ graffiti artist" please) for DQ and WMB.  Couldn't. Find. Them. Anywhere.

Apparently, all the far more organized moms got to the stores before me.  There were empty racks where tunic sweaters used to be.  The only long-sleeved t-shirts for boys DQ's age were not the sweet ones with firetrucks and bulldozers, but had questionable spray-painted slogans on them.  And no--I will not buy any sweatpants or yoga pants for an 8 year old girl that has any kind of writing, sparkly or not, on the bum bum.  Not. Gonna. Happen.

After a long afternoon of combing the mall and surrounding area for fall and winter clothes, my kids now have enough to put off doing laundry every day.  Not that I don't do that anyway, but at least they have 3 or 4 long sleeve shirts and pants to last them a few days.  And school boots that fit (thank you Stride Rite for having a clearance sale that actually had my kids' sizes in stock!!!).  I still haven't gotten around to the winter stuff yet--and, no doubt, I'll only get around to it when it snows and I'm digging around under the basement stairs for the box of snow pants that are three sizes too small and the boots that would be small on a toddler.  My munchkins will be the ones out on the neighborhood hill, sledding in three pairs of sweatpants and mismatched mittens because mommy couldn't get her act together enough to find snow pants and boots at Target before they were all sold out.  But, at least they'll be having fun--and I know that they are totally unprepared for the weather because we were all too busy playing at the park and going fishing at the dock and investigating all the different types and colors of mushrooms that have sprouted up in the woods during these torrential rains.

And, that has to account for something.  Doesn't it?