Why does MIL do this?

[cheesypastaplease]

I love MIL, she is very lovely and would do anything for us and dc but she seems to have a problem.

Yesterday she brought gifts over, she gave 5 year old dd pyjamas aged 7-8, and 2 year old ds pyjamas aged 4-5 years. She also brought dd a dressing up outfit aged 7-8 and ds a dressing gown for 3-4 years. Now my dc are about average height so these things won't fit them for a while - in fact pjs aged 2-3 drown ds as it is!

When questioned she replied they would grow into them! I know her hearts in the right place but it seems like a waste of money!

[Finola1step]

It's not a waste of money. The children will grow into the clothing. Just put them away for a while.

[BohemianGirl]

I'd rather have too big than too small.

[treaclesoda]

it's not really a waste of money if you put them away for a few months or a year and still get the use out of them at a later date though.

I was just chatting to some friends earlier and we were commenting on how our MILs insist on buying clothes that are too small. My DD is 7 and very tall for her age, so she easily wears age 8 clothes. My MIL buys things in age 5-6 because she is thinks clothes sizes are far too big and that she should be able to fit into a smaller size - MIL is very petite herself , very short, and has always found that clothes swamp her, so she assumes that everyone else is the same. Its very frustrating and it really is a waste of money. When DD was 5, she gave her a pair of trousers that were age 2 to 3!

[formerbabe]

I'd prefer that. My son (5) got given clothes for his age group and they don't fit at all! I think its better as at least they can grow into them. YABU, she probably just thinks they will get more wear out of them.

[cheesypastaplease]

Yes I know that I can keep them, but ds is really needing pjs now. Plus as there is so long to go till they will fit, I know that I will put them away and forget about them! She always does this so really should have specified.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Far better to buy a bit big imho. And PJs can be worn for ages - put a few stitches in the waistband now and roll up the bottoms, let out later and then cut into shorts when the bottoms are too short. Our dds wore the same pairs of PJs for years!

[DontmindifIdo]

Actually, that does seem irritating, there's something really dull about getting a gift you can't use for several years. Esp if you asked her to get pjs as you need htem, so you now still need PJs but have to store something for several years not using. (I don't have much storage, being given stuff I have to store for 3 years before they will be used taking up space I could be using for storing stuff I need in the next few months would annoy me.)

It's also hard for DCs to get the concept of something that's a gift they can't actually use for several years, to most children, that's not a gift, they haven't had a thing they can use/play with.

Mind you, if she has form of this, is there stuff you've squirralled away from previous years you need to go find?

In the future, say the age sizes they need, say you need them to fit now (not in several years time)

[DontmindifIdo]

oh could you ask for the recipts and change them for ones that will fit now if you need them now?

[cheesypastaplease]

No couldn't exchange them, MIL is a super saver and probably bought the pjs last January!!

Seriously I am very grateful for anything, if they had been for a year old I could see her logic but they won't even fit next Christmas!

[MPB]

YANBU

My kids are slim to average size and already have to have a size below what they should be in. To buy them several sizes bigger is ridiculous IMO.

Not sure what you can do though.

[CaptainTripps]

I am surprised at the number of folks who don't think this is an issue / not a waste. I would find it a bit bizarre to receive unwearable clothing.

Urgghh who the fuck wants to put stitches into too large pjs? Was it Remus who suggested this and to roll up the bottoms?

Storing clothes for an indeterminate point in the future is a pita - personally I wouldn't have the room.

I would tell her and ask for an exchange. Totally useless.

[Nanny0gg]

It's also hard for DCs to get the concept of something that's a gift they can't actually use for several years, to most children, that's not a gift, they haven't had a thing they can use/play with.

This^^

Your DCs won't appreciate the presents at all which is a real shame for them. If she must do 'practical' couldn't she buy a little something for them to play with as well?

To my mind, it's the easy option with not much thought that she's taken.

[MrsKoala]

Personally i dislike this and find it annoying because we have no storage space at all. We live in a small flat, which everyone knows, and operate a 'just in time' policy to DS's stuff/clothes. He has 3 drawers for all his clothes. There is no where else for them to go, so this space needs to be used for clothes he can actually wear, rather than having stuff hanging around unused for years.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Erm - I am no domestic goddess but it takes only a minute or two. And as a parent of tall, skinny dds that was pretty much what I always had to do tbh.

[NoComet]

When I was a child, clothes were proportionately very expensive.

£ for £ school uniform cost as much as it does now and wages were way, way less.

My DM would never have bought any thing that just fitted. Trousers were bought too long and turned up, my Y7 school jumper was way too big. Skirts always started too long and were worn until you could almost see your knickers.

I always laugh at threads talking about sexualising little girls. Our summer dresses and shorts were often very short as mothers tried to get one more year out of them.

We weren't especially poor, like a lot of 70's households the dad's income just covered everything, plus bikes for Christmas. You didn't eat out much and there weren't computers, huge TVs or holidays abroad.

I suspect this is your MIL's world too.

[friday16]

I always buy six year olds copies of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (in one of the longer editions) to help them learn to read. I mean, they won't get much use out of it now, but they'll grow into it, and that's much better than buying them a book that they're too old for, isn't it?

[MrsSteptoe]

No, I think you're entirely reasonable if it's a persistent thing to buy them too big. All this "oh, they'll grow into it, just cobble it together with tailors tacks if they're a trip hazard" is no attitude to take towards a gift to a child.
Actually, I try to limit the extent to which DS gets clothes anyway - he is fairly indifferent to what he wears, so it feels like a bit of a cheat to buy them as gifts. Obviously, if the child in question likes clothes, it's a bit different, but under those circumstances then they're going to be disappointed at getting something they can't wear. And I also realise that if you're on a limited budget, then you might need to kill two birds with one stone by giving clothes as a gift.
I'm not sure you can do much about it except maybe give your MIL some precise instructions as to sizing and a clear message that "she needs these now, so it would be very useful if they were in the right size" for Xmas/birthdays...

[NoComet]

The only thing I can think of is telling DMIL that modern DCs clothes are made very big for age, because of all the DCs who live on burgers (which is sometimes true) and that the clothes really won't fit her nice healthy GCs for so long into the future you are likely to forget you've got them.

[NoComet]

Also I am guilty of this as I did send DN a Christmas jumper that I hope will fit next year (as she goes to a non uniform school and I hope she'll get to use it far more next Dec. than this).

[DontmindifIdo]

No, don't try to sew them to fit, because all you'll do is spoil them, so rather than having PJs that look good they can use in 3 years time when they actually fit, they'll have PJs that look shit now, and then are binned before they get to the stage of fitting.

If the label says where they are from, try to return/exchange them. annoying that she's given you an extra job to do, but at least it'll save you having to go buy PJs for now anyway.

[WorrySighWorrySigh]

This is another example of what I am starting to realise is a whole branch of logic - Nana Logic

Something bought which cant be used now is an economy - fact.

There are many, many more examples of Nana Logic. All are infuriating!

[Bahhhhhumbug]

I think it's a generational thing personally from a time when parents bought clothes such as school uniforms to last through as many years as possible. I remember wearing turned up skirt hems and even jumper sleeves and a coat that swamped me to school in the first year and they were gradually let out or let down as I 'grew into them'. In those days childrens clothes and uniforms in particular were comparatively expensive and money was tight for many so it was a case of 'getting your moneys worth' my mother just took it to extremes and made me a laughing stock and I am still bitter

[Bahhhhhumbug]

Meant to add that was before the days of mass produced cheaper clothing such as 'Primarni' which isn't designed to last as long as in days gone by but rather to be throwaway and replace every year.

[IShallCallYouSquishy]

I'd rather my DD got clothes that were too big than too small. Unless she did it completely on purpose to be spiteful of course.

My DD is 19 months so people would assume that's 18-24 in clothes. She got a lovely dress in 2-3 as the giver obviously thought "get next size up so she gets some use out of it"

DD currently wears 9-12 months. She will probably wear 2-3 at about 3 years old! I didn't even think twice about it just thought it was a lovely dress and put it in the box of too big clothes in her wardrobe ready for when it will fit at some point.

[trinitybleu]

PJ's are nicer baggy anyway. My DD(6) is v tall and skinny, and currently wearing an age 11-12 onesie!