So, this week I wasted nearly four hours searching for soft, long-sleeved shirts for Little P in the 9-12 month size, at a price that did not make me wonder if I should scrap buying for him and go buy for myself instead.
I started at the mall. I never go to the mall. I have only been to the mall once since returning to this town and it was only to accompany my mother on a baby gift hunt for her friend's daughter. I chose the mall because I figured there would be a couple of baby stores and a couple of department stores and somehow I would accomplish my task in one and a half hours tops. Ah, ha, ha.
I was only right about finding a multitude of stores: Gymboree, Baby Gap, Naartjie, Pumpkin Patch, Limited, Too, and The Children's Place...plus the less creative Sears, JCPenney, and Macy's. Egads.
First of all, let me describe what I was looking for: long sleeve t-shirts, 100% cotton, SOFT, no plasticky designs across the front, no funky decorations, SOFT, stretchy, size 9-12 months. Despite evidence to the contrary (it was 99 degrees today), it actually has been cooling down here. What typically happens is that we put Little P down for bed and his room is hot. So he goes to sleep in a t-shirt or no shirt. By the time Brent gets him up for his 5AM feeding, it is quite cool or cold. Brent dresses him in a long-sleeved shirt and soft pants. It's not cold enough for fleecy, footy p.j.s. Just a knit top and bottoms. So Little P needed some shirts.
Another consideration is that Little P is busting the seams of his 6 to 9 month clothes, and most of his 6 to 12 month clothes. I thought that if I could find a 9 to 12 size, we'd be able to get by until Christmas or his birthday, when all the grandmas and aunties just can't help themselves.
So I go to the mall. And here I begin my rant:
1. What happened to the 9 to 12 month sizes?! I feel like I've landed in the Bermuda Triangle. I'm flying along, dressing my child, when suddenly all clothes that could possibly fit have vanished. We are floating in the atmosphere, dear Little P stunned by his own nudity, grasping at cloud particles and finding them damp and clammy and not at all like soft, pure cotton...speaking of which, soft cotton will be rant #2. But let's get back to sizes. See, all the stores have multitudes of 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, and 6-12...but 9-12 appears in a handful of measly designs, which were lacking in either a) affordability, b) softness, or c) simplicity. The 6-12s were about half a pound away from making my dear young man look, and feel, like a sausage. (Nobody likes to feel like a sausage...believe me. About half my jeans now...oh nevermind.) So what's an empathetic mama to do?
2. Let's pick up on that cotton thing. Or rather, that SOFT cotton thing. What happened to all the soft cotton? Are little ones who dare to age past 6 months no longer eligible for soft, snuggly clothing? All I wanted were a few Carter-like infant t-shirts...the single color, super stretchy (to avoid sausage body), SOFT stuff. It's like, as soon as your baby starts looking even a little bit like a boy, you have to buy an OUTFIT. And the OUTFIT must look like and feel something a pubescent child would wear - t-shirts with elaborate surfer/skater/hip-hop/bling vinyl or whatever-substance-that-is designs on the front - the stuff that makes the t-shirt all STIFF and CRUNCHY.
Or, the OUTFIT has to make him look like a little man. A balding, porky little old man. These OUTFITS have crunchy collared shirts in Hawaiian prints to match their daddies' Costco shirts, or plaid to suggest that they are rugged and ready to attend a free workshop at L.L. Bean on fly-fishing.
Or, how about the OUTFIT that makes him look like a rock star or actor? The ones that have cut-out parts with other parts stitched in, so that all he has to do is bend his arm and there's, like, a hard knob of three layers of fabric bunched together. These make me feel like I should start dying his hair purple and gelling it into a faux-hawk or something, they're so stylistically self-conscious.
And that's just the shirts. Don't even get me started on baby jeans and infant cargo pants. It's a good thing I was only after a t-shirt.
3. Why didn't I just buy pajamas? Well, first off, at least half of the stuff out there is some yucky make-your-skin-slippery fake fabric stuff. I don't even know what it is, but it's supposed to be fire retardant. Would that be polyester? Olefin? Hello...those chemically things that retard fires are on my child's skin night after night after sweaty night? How many children die in nighttime fires that would otherwise have been prevented by their choice in sleepwear? (Hmm...I should look that up.)
OK, I did find some 100% cotton jammies that were deliciously soft at Gymboree (which actually had an entire store full of soft cotton), but they were $26. $26! For one pair of p.j.s! I needed, like, three sets. I really, REALLY, wanted to buy the little two-piece set (that way the tummy could hang out without giving Little P a wedgie...that happens with one-piecers when he nears the high end of the weight recommendations), but that would have blown most of my budget. So I put it back and wheeled my stroller out into the mall. Side note: I did try to buy soft, cotton pajamas at Sears, but they did not have any in the 9-12 size.
4. And, finally, price. I am a stay-at-home-mama. As I write this I am thinking...I should probably just go shopping at the thrift store seven blocks away. Yep. That's what I should do from now on. But STILL. What is up with the $40+ outfits (I am only talking a shirt and pants, here) for an 8-month old?! Throw in a hip-hop hoodie or an L.L. Bean sweater and you're up to $60+.
I mean, seriously. There used to be one kids' clothing store in the mall. Now there are six, in addition to the usual department store purveyers. Six. Six is not a bad number, except when you think that those are six stores with boutique prices that can all survive in a single mall. And there are malls every 10 miles in Southern California.
In truth, I would probably not even care about all this if I could have just found a darn soft, long-sleeved, cotton t-shirt in a plain color or in stripes in the 9-12 month size for a reasonable price. But I couldn't, because simplicity and function were edged out of this prolific market by infant, er, adult fashion for infants. But I am not the average consumer, thus I should not be surprised by my inability to find what I am looking for at the average consumer's mall o' overpriced, overly self-conscious stuff.
And, I would probably have been more patient about my search if I had not just pitched two big ol' bags of outgrown stuff into the closet, leaving Little P's drawers shy of soft, long-sleeved, cotton shirts.
THE HAPPY ENDING: I did find a simple, snap up cotton jersey tee for $4 at Old Navy in a 6-12 month size that actually looks like there is room for another pound or two. And I found some cute, stripy two-piece pajamas at Ross for $6. I found a two-pack of those kimono shirts at Target, but I'm not sure they will fit. Have to take them out of the package. I think they were about $6 for the pack. So...at least, with frequent laundering, we will get through this awkward period (too hot for full pajamas, too cold for t-shirts) until the weather sorts itself out and Little P lands squarely in a 12-month size.
Egads.
P.S. To all the well-meaning grandmas and aunties out there...I don't really have a problem with outfits or fashion. Really. It's just that, for every day apparel worn around the house, it seems a little over the top. (Especially as he still drags his belly when he crawls and thus ruins every t-shirt he has). I would just like the simple stuff to be as available as the snazzy stuff. You are still welcome to provide Little P with cute and stylish clothing whenever you feel inclined. And I promise to take lots of pictures of him in those cute and stylish outfits. :)
P.P.S If you have a little girl in the family and you feel like spending way too much on an outfit in the name of fashion, check out Naartie. This store's little girl collections could make me change my tune...(but the outfits are soft and cotton!)
