Kids Are Expensive

I don't know how it is in most homes, but my kids are expensive.  They keep growing.  And growing.  Maybe all kids grow like mine--super fast.  Or maybe my kids grow faster than the average child due to having a dad that's 6 foot 7 inches and a mom who is 5 foot 8 inches.  Whatever the cause, my kids are always in need of new clothes and shoes.

I went through Lizzy's summer clothes back in April.  I weeded out the clothes that were too small and felt confident that she had enough shorts and t-shirts to be fine for the summer.  And then one by one, she would go to put on a pair of shorts and they wouldn't button.  Or a shirt would actually be a belly shirt.  I took her to the thrift store and bought her a few skorts to fill in the gaps thinking that'd be enough.  Last week things came to a head.

I was behind on laundry due to a crazy week, so she was to the bottom of her shorts pile.  She tried on the last four pairs, one by one, and not a pair fit.  I went online and bought her five new pairs that arrived on Saturday.

Two weeks ago Lizzy commented that she needed new shoes.  Her old pair was not only falling apart, but upon investigation I found they were also too small.  David's shoes were also falling apart, but as they still fit and are from Lands End, I could take them into Sears and get a replacement pair for free thanks to their awesome 100% guarantee.  But that meant two weeks without shoes while waiting for the new pair to come in the mail.  So I bought both Lizzy and David new shoes from Target because they were having a sale and there was a 20% off coupon code.

I thought I was done for the summer.  Wrong.  While we were at Sears returning David's shoes, Joy was dancing around and I really looked at her shoes.  Also falling apart.  I felt for her toe and realized her toes were at the end.  Sigh.  When we got home I went online and found her new shoes from Walmart.

Maybe, maybe, we are really truly set for the rest of the summer.  Maybe, maybe, my kids won't have a growth spurt before the fall.  Yes, it's annoying to discover all of my children have outgrown their shoes at the same time, but I admit that it is fun to search the web to find the best deal on clothes and shoes, that I enjoy finding great clothes for super cheap at the thrift store.  Even if I won the lottery and had more money than I knew what to do with, I would still hunt down deals and shop at thrift stores because it's fun to save money.