Special Parenting Ritual
Here we go again…I am transitioning Little MPB to the next size up in clothing.
I thought we’d be in size 2 for a few months longer. But, Little MPB decided to go through a massive growth spurt, and as much as I’ve tried to put off changing out his dresser drawers, it’s time to admit that I really needs to be change out his drawers. He is starting to look a little silly with his pants being too short and his shorts starting to look like some sort of baby short-shorts.
Thankfully, I don’t have to go shopping in order to change his clothing size. You see, I always keep the next size of clothing stashed away in his closet – often I pick up cute things as I see them, or people gift them to us, or when we go to the USA we go on a shopping spree and collect a lot at once because everything is so much cheaper. (I know one day Little MPB will care more about the process of buying clothing, but for now, I embrace that we get to pick everything out).
I know many mom’s dread this particular activity, presumably because it indicates their little baby is literally growing up.
Not me. I actually love this activity. In fact, I love it so much, it may just be one of my most special parenting rituals. I love how this is a literal reminder that he is here, healthy and growing up just as he should.
As I switch out the clothing, it’s always just me, alone, quietly in Little MPB’s room. I get to quietly reminiscing over the clothing he’s outgrown – and setting aside a few of my favourite pieces to keep. How amazing it is that I get to dress this tiny human and show him the world. But mostly, I just reflect on how fortunate I am to have him in our lives.
And this time, it looks like it’s going to be a lot more fun, as Little MPB has started taking an interest in his clothing. Don’t get me wrong, he’d still rather be naked most of the time, but he has just starting to help pick his shirt in the morning. And, right now, he is absolutely loving seeing all his new shirts! Randomly during the day, he’ll look at his shirt and say Mommy, look at my shirt! or Mommy, see Marshall on my shirt? as he holds his shirt out as far as he can. It is truly adorable.
If you like this post, please feel free to share and please click the follow button on the side or return to myperfectbreakdown.com to follow.
My Perfect Breakdown 
I love this ritual too. As the parent of a baby who failed to thrive her first year, creeping ever so slowly up the growth chart, I relish the opportunity to swap out smaller clothes for bigger ones, as it indicates her growth (and thriving). We barely glanced at 2T too…maybe it’s an odd size, because we practically skipped from 18-24 into 3T.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wonder if this is part of why I love changing clothing sizes? Little MPB rode the 3rd percentile line for the first 6 months of his life, and it consumed me with worry. I hadn’t thought about it from this perspective, but I think it could absolutely be part of why I love seeing him grow so much!
We’ve been in 2T for about 6 months. But we practically skipped 24 months, because I didn’t realize 24 months and 2T aren’t the same thing so I never bought 24 month specific clothing. Which probably saved us some money, so I wont complain about it. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! Our kids are so different! I dread changing clothing sizes, but not because of sentimentality — it’s because my kid is a total neophobe who only wants to wear one thing and wants to wear it every day (at the moment it’s his green lizard shirt or, if he’s in a good mood, maybe his orange dinosaur shirt, with his purple star shirt a sometimes-acceptable compromise). When we had to switch him from winter into summer clothes this year, and he had to wear things he had never worn before, he had a total, complete, and utter meltdown — 45 minutes of wailing and trying desperately to take off the offending shirt and shorts (I waited until it was like 80 degrees out, so I really just could not send him to daycare in long pants and long sleeves anymore!). I tried everything in the week leading up to the meltdown — letting him pick out his clothes, not letting him pick out his clothes, letting him choose from a limited subset of options, screen time, bribery, you name it. What can I say? My kid is stubborn.
Also, my kid grows like a weed, which means we have to change clothing sizes SO often, argh! Finally he’s slowed down, but he’s been in 4T since the start of the summer (and as you know, he’s a couple months younger than Little MPB!). If it weren’t for the flailing and wailing, I’d love changing his clothing sizes — we don’t tend to buy him a huge wardrobe, since he outgrows it so quickly and since he doesn’t want to wear most of it anyway (we just do laundry 3 days a week!), so I get bored with the clothing in a particular size long before he’s ready to move up. 🙂
Oh, and by the way, if you’re ever in a place in the US with a Once Upon a Child, I highly recommend it! That’s where we get most of our non-hand-me-down clothes for our little giant.
LikeLike
Size 4T? Wow, that’s impressive! Little MPB has never been tall for his age, usually just below average to average. So, I suspect he’s right on track for his growth curve.
Also, we just had our very first, I’m not taking this shirt off battle! He wore a green star wars shirt for 3 solid days, including sleeping, before we tricked him into having a bath which requires him to be naked. I actually thought it was adorable! But, once we got it off him, he was fine to move onto a different shirt, so I’m happy about that.
We buy too many pieces of clothing for Little MPB, but mainly because I hate doing laundry and if I have more, then I don’t have to wash his clothing as often. And also, with his general disinterest in what he wears, we’ve never had the problem of needing to wash things frequently. I tend to get away with one day of laundry a week. Sometimes two.
We have Once Upon a Child here too! But I’ve always found the clothing that is 2T plus is really worn out. I wonder if it’s just that the population here is so small that we don’t get as much good stuff?? And, if we go to the USA, we can get brand new at target for the same price as used here, so we tend to just stock up when we can. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally love this. I have so much fun pulling out the next size! Charlotte LOVES new clothes. She’ll stop and say, “Did you buy this for me at the store?!” in total amazement.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is so sweet!! 🙂 Little MPB doesn’t really LOVE new clothing, but at least he’s starting to take an interest in what he wears. So for me, that’s a big win. 🙂
LikeLike
I rarely go into stores to buy bigger sizes for H as I truly have no time to shop, so I buy all his new sizes online and it’s just as satisfying! I love getting to check out all the little styles and when we hit the transition from baby looking clothes to more big boy clothes. I love taking the tags off and filling his drawers with the new items. Because, you’re right. It’s a rewarding moment knowing that our little ones are growing and thriving!
We now put H to bed in the shirt he’s going to wear the next day. For some reason we can convince him to get changed into new pants/shorts every day but he is stubborn as all heck when it comes to changing his shirt in the morning. And, I won’t lie, once or twice he’s gone to daycare wearing his pyjama shirt because that’s what he insisted on wearing to bed and won’t take off the next day. Some nights at bedtime I have to offer up about five different shirts before he finally picks one to wear. If I pick one without giving him a choice, the meltdown begins. So it’s just easier to let him pick and be happy with what he’s about to wear. It’s a frustrating but fun phase when they start to get interested in clothes!
LikeLike
I’m so glad I’m not the only parent who LOVES doing this. I don’t know why, but I just do:)
LikeLike
I love this post! I too love this ritual. I often stock up on cute items after season and get excited to get it all out as the season changes. You’re right!! It’s a great reminder that growth is a good thing! (Okay here I go getting emotional again about Luke starting school).
LikeLike
I’m the sappy parent who cried when I put away outgrown clothes. Somewhere around the switch to 2T it really hit me hard that they’re never going to wear these clothes again, unlike when I change out my seasonal clothes and rewear them. I actually like it now as they do rewear some clothes from year to year. I buy big so I can get two, sometimes three seasons out of favorite outfits. I have a mild kid clothes addiction, and also an aversion to laundry so my kids have way more clothes than they really need.
I do a lot of shopping ahead too. I buy a good half at consignment sales and the rest on clearance or during big sales. I get some girl hand me downs from a friend, and V did what Little MPB did. She held up every new item to show me and told me how much she liked it! Is it wishful thinking to hope she’s always this happy about my choices for her wardrobe?
LikeLike
I love this too! It’s so amazing to know our kids our growing! Since A was growth restricted, I am always happy now when I move her up a size (and now that she’s almost 2 and in mostly 2T I feel like she’s caught up to her size for her age, if that makes sense).
LikeLike
I love cutting out labels and sorting new clothes, and picturing her in them. This is the last lot of clothes where we got lots as gifts. Next time I night actually have to buy some.
LikeLike
My little one is transitioning from 2T to 3T. I love seeing the new clothes and having her try everything on. It does makes me sad to see her growing up so fast, though. So far I’ve been lucky in that she likes all clothes and isn’t too picky!
LikeLike