Cataloging and Acquisitions

My first thought, upon seeing that tiny ghostly-gray vulva on the ultrasound screen, was not of my own sister-filled childhood, or of Sophia and some imaginary newcomer frolicking in the (also imaginary) backyard. No, I thought: "Ha ha! Y'all were wrong!" Y'all, in this case, including the author.

My second thought was worse still: "Oh, good! I can buy Sophia a girly winter coat if she wants. Oooh, and maybe that ridiculously expensive Folkloric Ensemble that isn't even the right color for her but would look awfully nice on me if I were three years old!"

Yep, shopping. First the gloating, then the shopping. Hey, just because I was included in the ranks of the Wrongy McWrongersons doesn't stop me from enjoying a good wallow in the gloatmire, you feel me?

So. The shopping. Two girls (and I am presuming accuracy on the part of the ultrasound; I know there are no guarantees, but I got a good gander at the screen, and it sure looked like your standard teeny coffee bean equipment) would mean abandoning our habit of keeping our big-ticket purchases, like winter coats, in unisex territory. It would mean investment pieces, people. (Which, in our case, could mean spending ten bucks instead of five on a pair of shorts, but whatever. I am nursing a grudge against Target for making their girls' shorts so tiny that Sophia managed to grow out of a size 3T by the end of July, and I must admit that, in the Giant Boxes of Hand-Me-Downs from dear friend Lisa which have provided the bulk of Sophia's wardrobe for oh, her whole life, the quality pieces [which were themselves handed down to Lisa's daughter] are the ones that hold up, look nice, and fit they way they ought to.)

It's a good thing that we're generally low in the spare cash department, what with the way we earmark the bulk of Sean's paycheck for hookers and blackjack, because otherwise my daughter would resemble the insufferable offspring of an heiress who never got over her doll-playing days. I have made exactly two purchases from Hanna Andersson in my life (a playdress and some seasonally-printed underpants on clearance, and the next size up in underpants at the recent underpants sale)(because their kid underpants ROCK -- the old-school ones that look more like shorts almost -- no seams, no chafing. Oh, how I remember the chafing), and Hanna has got to be the gateway drug of upscale children's catalogs, because judging by what arrives in the mail every season change, the word SUCKER must be stamped in inch-high letters next to my address in the big marketing ledger, or whatever the hell they use these days.

* * *

They start you off with Land's End, man. They throw in a little L.L. Bean on the side, no extra charge, because those are hardly even catalogs at ALL, man, you know what I'm sayin'? And then you need something a little harder -- but still practical, still, arguably, good value for the money. Next thing you know this is wedged into your mailbox with one of these, rolled around that. And you're late to pick up your child, your real, actual child, because you are too busy lolling on the sofa imagining her in colors like Paddington Blue and Wellington Green, wearing a funky yet tasteful palette in natural fibers and quirky shapes. There are tights, sometimes natural chunky cables and sometimes bright polka dots; there are things called "toppers" which seem to be jackets but...more evocative, somehow.

Sometimes there is a pony.

Then you get to preschool and your kid is wearing what she put on this morning, which is a too-short white t-shirt printed with bright red ladybugs and worn backward, combined with ruffled baggy capris in Searing Aqua with Floral Multi. It reminds you a little bit of the time your dad, who is profoundly color-blind, went to church in a red-and-white-striped shirt and turquoise pants, except your child has done this ON PURPOSE and has strenuously resisted any attempts to muffle her artistic expression. Also your dad did not have chocolate frosting all down the front of his church clothes.

* * *

So I'm thinking maybe I'll use her birthday money to get her something like these, and build the rest of her Wardrobe: Autumn 2008 from the hand-me-down box and the tights and leggings section of one of the lower-tier catalogs. Maybe she gets to pick one thing from the same catalog when I'm ordering her winter coat*. She seems to have a taste for brown corduroy skirts, so the whole dress-child-as-miniature-fantasy-version-of-self thing has a decent shot to get off the ground, at least. And I can rest secure in my extravagant-feeling purchases, because, after all, they'll have to last through two girls.

Two girls. Tee hee.

*I'm not a big catalog snob, I promise, but I am persnickety when not downright obsessive about certain clothing items: underpants, winter coats, and shoes. This may have to do with a childhood spent in outgrown, red-mark-leaving underwear and winter coats not quite thick enough to block the Kansas wind, to say nothing of what happens when you put archless, hyperflexible feet in those white knockoff Keds they sell in big wire bins at discount stores (irony: they used to have "arch support" areas printed on the inside of their flat cushionless insoles). And, okay, I am what you would call a Highly Sensitive Person, if you were the author of a book by the same name, so these things can drive me stark raving mad, as can a tag in the back of a shirt. Sophia insists on tag removal and perfect alignment of sock seams, so I'm thinking quality underpants are an investment that will pay off in reduced therapy and meds costs later on.

Comments

[Arwen]

My grandfather had a saying which my father always quoted: "You can spend your money at the grocery store and the shoe store, or at the doctor's office."

Thus, my perpetually cash-strapped parents always shelled out for high-quality shoes for all six of their children, even though our clothes were a mix of hand-me-downs and picks from the JCPenney clearance rack. My adult feet thank them for it. And we're following the same tradition with our daughter, who wears a lot of hand-me-down clothes but gets two pairs of good shoes every time she goes up a size. (I love the Pedipeds and the See Kai Runs.) I think it's a good way to prioritize.

But I totally understand the temptation to spend ridiculous amounts of money on clothing. I lust after the super-high-quality stuff too.

[Mary]

Yeah, the J-man wears clothes from Target and Sears, but his shoes are Preschoolians. Yes, that's partly because of his sensory issues, but if it wasn't them, it would be Stride Rites. He has wide feet. What else would I buy the kid? Funny, I always wore comfortable shoes. I wore running shoes every day before that was cool. I'm also the only one in my family not to have horrid foot issues...

[Kateri]

i got to the costumes in the firefly catalogue and i had. to. STOP.

i guess this means you'll have some use for my pretty girly things, hmmmm? i still have plenty...:)

[Annika]

DAMN IT. Now I want to buy adorable girls' clothing. I totally have a boy. CRAP.

[Claire]

Hee hee, your title appeals to my Librarian-brain, sitting here at the Ref Desk reading your latest entry!

I covet precious girl clothes, but with a girl and then a boy, all our clothes are one-shot only deals. I plot and plan what I will buy and then end up just going to Target. And the only shoes my kids will wear are Crocs...

[Becky]

You know, I was sure the universe owed me a second girl. I had such great gear! The Hannas and the gymbos, et al. I stayed away from miniBoden, though I longed for it, because I was afraid I would be hooked. But it was a boy, and boy is he less fun to dress! So I hardly bother--I have a dumbed-down system of All Things are Red or Blue, and they all get worn together.

Have fun! I love my boy but I envy you!

[Sam]

I wholeheartedly agree with the good shoe thing. The winter coat I am sure is a good thing to have in those regions that boast an actual winter. With cold, ice, snow, etc. Last year my kid didn't want a jacket and made do with a sweatshirt. One of the perks of living in perpetual sun land.

[jen]

Ah, MiniBoden. I didn't realise you had a separate US site, though I did curse you guys over the pond repeatedly when a particular dress ran out of stock in THREE DAYS and found that they all went to the US (I subsequently got one on EBAY). I find that store so frustrating as I just want ALL of it - and boys are just as fun to dress there, which is unusual. I sit there with a cup of tea and a biscuit and the Miniboden catalogue, circling the things with a red pen that I will never buy (unless they are cheap as chips in the sale). My husband hides my credit card when the catalogue comes through the post, just in case (or threatens dire poverty if I buy more than a pair of [hideously overpriced] underpants). Actually I've never bought the underpants, as they really ARE hideously underpriced... The only good thing about Boden is that you can sell them (used) on eBay for as much as you buy them in the sale, which makes them free, right? ;)

[jen]

ps I meant OVER priced, second time round - I wrote 'underpriced' which I guess was just wishful thinking. *SIGH*.

Now if we're talking catalogue p*rn - Pottery Barn Kids, Garnet Hill quilts, Lands End, babyGap... and I can't even buy the babyGap stuff as my two kids are now (just) too big. *Sob*.

[Brooke]

We buy good shoes for the toddler partly because we have no choice. Poor kid has narrow feet. They don't even make narrow children's shoes until size 7 and she is in a 6.5. When we went to buy her sandals, there was one pair in the entire (children's shoe) store that fit. One, in one color. Luckily she liked it.

I totally want to buy her a Hanna Andersson hoodie, Lands End cargo pants, and a novelty/band tee shirt (maybe TMBG), so that I can dress her like her moms dressed in high school. I have refrained so far, but I'm not sure I can hold out past the end of the week.

[Jo]

On the footwear thing: yes, Sophia has wide feet too! (Just like her mama.) We really like the See Kai Runs as well as Crocs. I think Crocs are actually pretty decent shoes, as far as my own feet go. And they can get them on by themselves...ah.

Oh, God, I forgot to put Growing Up Garnet Hill in there!

[Terrill]

Ah, yes. . . as soon as I gave birth to my second daughter, I bought two Hanna Anderson dresses for my older girl. . . and a NEW purple winter coat instead of the blue ones that had served for the last few winters!

[Christine K]

Oh the Hannas. We LOVE Hanna here. I'm wallowing in enjoyment of the hand-me-down Hannas from her cousin. Both the boy and the girl wear the Hanna Unders - I ended up caving when the Boy went commando for over a year because he refused to wear all underwear because it was uncomfortable. After his four year checkup, when the nurse said to strip down to his underwear and put on his gown and he replied "I'm not a big FAN of underwear!" and proceeded to pull down his pants and show her, we went to Hanna. I will say though, that I got him nine pair over two years ago. One met the untimely fate of a poopy accident at a fair, with changing in a port-a-potty and I just couldn't take it and threw them out. But the other eight are still being worn daily, no sign of wearing out or outgrowing! So pricey at the start, but seem to have the long-term value covered nicely.

[Lilian]

What a delightful post!!! who knew this latest discovery would bring about so much fun to your blog!

And, woe to me -- two boys. No cute girl clothes. A post like this would have "killed" me if I hadn't been shopping for my friends' daughters in Brazil for years now (mostly 80% stuff from Kohls plus my discounts as card holder -- still cute stuff in there, though!). I get to live vicariously through them... and go on shopping sprees with other people's money!! That feels positively blissful! Oh yeah, and one of my friends daughter is named Sofia, and has the same bright blue eyes that your daughter has. She's less shy, though ;-)

[Lilian]

Totally random: if you want to see "the other Sofia":
http://sofialoiolabarg.blogspot.com/

[dareva]

What cute clothes! Also, I want those shoes. They don't make them for adults, do they?

[Jo in Utah]

You are funny. And I hate to tell you this. Your clothes hunger will follow you to your grand children!

[erin]

ditto! though i *tpld* everyone that i was so excited to have a sister for my daughter because my sister and i are so close, but really, it was all about the clothes ;) i promptly went out and bought some ridiculously expensive italian boots. but it's ok, because both girls will wear them! many many congrats :)

[Mandy]

I'm big on the shoe thing,like others, but I have also come to recognize the value of finding well made clothes at times. Some things are less important and we get the majority of my 3 1/2 year old's clothes on sale or clearance. Then, as she has a little brother instead of sister, I sell them when outgrown to a friend whose daughter is a year behind and built like mine. It's amazing because she gets a good deal and I get the money back to put toward the next round.

Most of my daughter's clothes have come from kohls, target and the children's place but I've also gotten some amazing clearance deals at gymboree and hanna.

OH! and about hanna. Thanks to my daughter's petite build, those clothes truly are an investment piece even just for her. She wore the same dress, first as a really long dress, then a bit shorter with leggings, then shorter still, until ultimately it was a babydoll type shirt. She wore the same dress for over two years!!!! It is still in fantastic shape.

[ML]

Yeh, me too!! Me too!!!

Only the big girl is crazy-tall & skinny, the other one occasionally off-the-growth-chart small & I wind up 'supplementing' the hand-me-downs so much that I never get to INVEST. This year, for the creative dresser, I have selected a color pallette. Only shirts can have prints and they must contain only colors from within the pallette. I'm not stifling her creativity - we're reinvinting Garanimals. Right?

I browse all the catalogs while waiting in the car-rider line. I also only buy last season's stuff in next year's size. Boring, but there it is. You are not alone.

[Vanessa]

We've had great luck with a Carters stand-alone store near me that sells up to size 7. I didn't know they made anything but baby clothes until it opened. They are always running sales (like 50-70% off new stuff) and sending out coupons on top of that, so I'm able to stock up for my size 5 daughter. I wish we could afford the cute catalog stuff, but I can't see paying that much for a single item. We've got a girl and a boy, so limited hand-me-downs. And while we may have gotten away with some unisex stuff when she was little, there's no way now. The girl has refused to wear anything but dresses and skirts for the last year.