Fit and Frustration

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE to shop. I especially love to shop for my kids. But I have had one very frustrating issue with all of them....finding bottoms that fit! Ever since Joey was little, I have had problems finding any kind of bottoms that fit properly in the waist. When he was a toddler, I started buying slim fit pants whenever I could. Unfortunately, slim fit isn't really available until you hit at least size 4, and you can't find them everywhere. My kids aren't big, but they are considered about average. Wonder what "average" means to clothing companies???

When they came out with adjustable waist pants, I thought, "Great! This should solve my problem." But it usually doesn't. Even adjustable waist pants are frustrating because they are so big to start out with that you have to cinch and cinch, and even then they are still too big. Not to mention they also usually look too bulky up front, even if you can get them to fit in the waist. And then there are the long pieces of elastic left hanging down in their pants, which can't really be comfortable. This is the problem I run into with Kyle, who turned 4 in November and can wear size 4 tops but appears to be somewhere between a 3 and 4 on bottom. I wonder how much money I would have if I had a dollar for everytime I've run behind one of my kids to pull up their pants!

It's been no different with Lauren than with the boys. Actually, it's probably a little more difficult with her because she has always been below average with her weight. At her 2-year check-up she had just finally hit the 10th percentile for weight. She will be 3 in July and can wear a 3T in most tops and dresses, but I still have to buy her a 2T in bottoms. Even then, they are almost always still too big. I went to Kohl's last night to take advantage of their sale and picked her up several pairs of these cute capri leggings and pants they had. I like to have comfy things that the kids can have just for around the house or go out and play in so they don't ruin all their cute things. I could tell by looking at the capri leggings that even the 2T would probably not fit. They looked like they were made like women's pants these days with the low-rise waist. WHY??? These are supposed to be for TODDLERS. But if I go any smaller, the length will be too short. And forget about buying most outfits that come as sets. A 3T top will be fine, but she'd drown in the 3T bottoms.

Sure enough, when we did our "fashion show" to try on the new clothes this morning, every single pair of bottoms were too big in the waist. Last week, I bought her a couple of cute little skirts at Wal-Mart in size 24 months and they were way too big! What am I gonna do with this little girl? I have seen Dapper Snappers online and am thinking about trying them for all the kids, but the problem with those is that they only work with pants that have belt loops. For elastic waists, I will have to pin or stitch the waistband. Sometimes this works okay, other times the clothes don't wear quite right because they just weren't made with that in mind. And what if the pin pops open and sticks them? AHHHH!!!! Maybe she will just have to wear dresses all the time.