My 2 year old son only wears brand name clothes

Most people assume that if they have boys, they won’t run into the same issues that girls typically have.  Specifically, issues relating to clothes.  Well, not so and I have a two-year old boy to prove it.

Kyle has decided to show us his independence through his choice of clothes.  Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as the colour.  In fact, Kyle insists on wearing brand name clothes only.  Now, I’m not talking brand name like Hugo Boss, Louis Vitton or Lacoste.  I’m talking, Elmo, Thomas, Cars and smurfs.  Unless it’s one of those, he refuse to wear it.

The problem is, 80% of the clothes he owns, are not his brand of choice.  About a year ago, when I went to Joe Fresh, I found tons of great shirts for him size 2T (about a year out).  They were all on sale for approximately $3, so I couldn’t resist buying them, and smiling to myself about what a great super saver shopper I am.  Well, I couldn’t have been any more wrong!  I’m lucky if I’m able to persuade him to wear any of those shirts.

Some of the tactics that I’ve used include: “The Elmo shirt is itchy, mommy needs to wash it so you HAVE TO wear this one until the Elmo shirt is clean”.  Or, “look, there’s a backpack on this shirt, just like Dora.  Don’t you want to be like Dora?” and my all-time favourite “look at the _____ (fill in the blank with whatever animal is on the shirt).  Let’s go and try to find this ‘animal’ today”.  I’m usually lucky enough that these work, especially if he hasn’t spotted one of his favourite shirts.

I’ve even decided to go and purchase a few more of his brand name shirts, but then my husband keeps reminding me that we have a closet full of clothes that he’s never even wore.  He’s right, I can’t justify spending more money on 2-year-old clothes.  I just have to do laundry more often I guess!!  During a more recent shopping trip, I just let Kyle pick out the clothes. While they didn’t have any of his favourites, he did choose two. One had a cool dinosaur on it, and the other was of a bulldozer.  And since he picked it out, he hasn’t minded wearing them all that much.

Girl or boy, do your kids have any funny / frustrating phases like this one?  I’m sure that just like every other phase, this one is sure to pass.  But in the meantime, please share your secrets with me.  I’d love to hear 🙂

Clothes swap for a good cause

Two months before the holidays, I was putting clothes away in my closet when I almost fell over. I was pushing and squeezing new sweaters on to the rack when I realized that my closet was full of clothes that I haven’t worn in over two years. Granted, I was pregnant for one of those years, but honestly, I probably wasn’t going to wear many of these clothes again anytime soon. And so, an idea popped into my head: I need to purge some of my clothes so why not do it via a clothes swap with my friends. I was so excited that I sent out the evite two months in advance. As I was thinking about the logistics of the clothes swap, another thought entered my head. Why not somehow incorporate doing something for a good cause while I’m at it. And so, I sent out the following evite: