I now have 6 sacks of baby clothes...

Sovello · February 2012

One of my husband's work friends recently gave us all their one-year-old baby things - this includes a good stroller, car seat, bouncy hanging thing, bouncy chair thing and lots of stuff like that, it was SO generous and I'm thrilled.

We were also given six HUGE bin liners FULL of baby clothes too... I really am so grateful, but the difference between me and DH is he's a complete utilitarian, a sort of "we'll throw it away anyway so it doesn't have to be nice or new" type guy. He's very tight with the money (which is good most of the time) and now he says we have absolutely everything we need.

Thing is I looked through the clothes which are everything from newborn up to a year, and they're just... shabby. They're all super cheap, made in china... some are frayed and others stained, and to be honest they're just not the sort of thing (style, colour, design, patterns) I would have chosen for my daughter to wear.

I mean don't get me wrong, it is mostly wearable and fine, but now I'm in this awkward position where I still want to buy her some nice clothes, and DH is going to think I'm being completely excessive. He will probably make me feel guilty and extravagant if I buy clothes to supplement this lot (knowing him.)

Am I being unreasonable that I want to dress my baby how I want? Pick out her clothes myself? We're not rich, but we're certainly not poor. I mean we could have afforded a lot of the baby stuff easily.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How do you stop from appearing ungrateful at so many hand-me-downs? How can you justify buying more clothes when you have 6 sacks...?

nerdbaby · February 2012

Eh, just buy what you want, take the tags off, and throw it in with the rest... he'll probably never notice...

mommygrams0730 · February 2012

with my son i would get bags of clothes from my SIL, and i always said thanks. went through and picked out what i liked and donated the rest. i'd go through all the bins and pick through what you want and then donate the rest.

i can totally understand wanting to pick out your own clothing items (it's fun shopping for things you want to dress your baby in!) and it's nice to be given clothes too. so i say keep what you like and get rid of what you don't want...and i wouldn't even tell hubby until after you donated it saying, some were just too worn.

WiFeY 4 LiFeY · February 2012

This is what I would do... go through everything and toss whatever has a stain, frayed. What you dont like (NYS) take to a consignment store or goodwill. I dont think clothes are bad because that are made in China, but thats me. If you dont like it Id go buy what you like, its your baby-nothing wrong with that Smile

babymomma623 · February 2012

I would go through it and sell a few bags on craigs list for a great deal...then, you have less clothes and a little cash and you can go get more.

cjpreuss · February 2012

Don't feel bad. I would buy new things too. I say that if you're not spending over $100 on new stuff, just don't even tell DH. Somethings they just don't get and I wouldn't want to argue over a one time purchase that wasn't huge.

Sovello · February 2012

Thanks everyone! It's good to know I'm not alone

I started going through the bags after I posted this and have made one sack of stuff that I'd like to keep. I told DH all the rest was either stained, frayed, terribly made or hideous (which was the truth lol!) He seems ok with it We'll just drop it all at goodwill. I also made a pile of good stuff that only had the misfortune to be of hideous design or colour for a pregnant friend

AprilAngie · February 2012

mommy grams:
with my son i would get bags of clothes from my SIL, and i always said thanks. went through and picked out what i liked and donated the rest. i'd go through all the bins and pick through what you want and then donate the rest.
i can totally understand wanting to pick out your own clothing items (it's fun shopping for things you want to dress your baby in!) and it's nice to be given clothes too. so i say keep what you like and get rid of what you don't want...and i wouldn't even tell hubby until after you donated it saying, some were just too worn.

this.

angelfire02 · February 2012

Lol this sounds so much like me!

A girl my husband works with gave us two huge bags of clothes and as much as I appreciate it I don't think we will end up keeping most of it. The clothes were all used by her 3 1/2 year old and also her nephew so they are pretty worn and most were really stained. I am holding on to all of them right now, I am waiting until after our baby shower to see how much clothing we get and then I will weed through more of it. I agree that if you just put some new(er) stuff in with the old stuff your husband will probably never know.

You can find some super cute stuff at resale shops, garage sales, and on Craigslist so you can always get rid of the stuff you don't like and use the money from that to get newer stuff! Especially if she is your first and you want to have more kids. You are just investing in your family's future!!!

Sovello · February 2012

I'm not having a shower, I think that's mainly an American thing and though I live in America at the moment (I'm british) I still have european sensibilities! I wouldn't be able to bear being the centre of attention for a shower lol... My graduation was bad enough! I'm making an amazon baby registry though and will give the link out at some point if people want to get me something

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