to think girls need 3 pairs of footwear and 2 coats

[CarrieDaBabi]

dd 2.9, is ready for new shoes

i think she needs 3 pairs at least

trainers,to go with jeans etc
shoes.to go with dresses and skirts etc
and wellies. for rainy days

and ideally 2 coats

dh thinks she doesn't need 3 different types of footwear

Blimey! I have fewer pairs of footwear than some of these toddlers and I'm not going to grow out of them in 6 months' time.

Where do you keep all these shoes? We have two large shoeracks - one in the lobby and one in the hall and I still find myself tripping over shoes sometimes. And we only have 3-4 pairs each plus walking boots!

In her wardrobe. She has a frog with pockets on the back of the door which has them all in. Apart from her wellies which are lined up with mine, DH's and DS's.

How on earth do you afford it, everyone?

DS is two on Wednesday, and has one pair of shoes. We're going to have to get him a pair of wellies today too. He has a couple of coats which he was bought by relatives.

Oh, and the shoes he does have we've gotten our parents/grandparents to buy him on rotation. We've bought him one pair of shoes ourselves since he started wearing them.

One pair of sensible shoes is surely all a child needs at this age? Trainers/plimpsoles when he goes to school, but until then, why bother? They're hadly in them five minutes! And parties last two hours - fancy shoes for that length of time!?

Mind you, I guess that's the life you lead when you can't work... (grumble grumble)

You just need lots of friends with older children

IME it gets much worse as they get older, Tottwriter, and is worse for girls than boys. Up to about age 5 DD had one pair of shoes (those clarks ones that are in between shoes & boots) plus wellies in winter, then canvas shoes/wellies in summer. Wellies invariably came as hand-me-downs though she generally then wore them out.
Once they get older, its really hard to get sensible sturdy shoes for girls that do duty both for school & playing - especially if you rule out (as we do) shoes with heels & shoes containing dolls (they break). Hence trainers or play shoes needed.
Plus dd's school has a rule that children are not allowed to wear the same trainers for PE as they are wearing for school (IYSWIM) - so even if they wear trainers generally (as many do, esp the boys) they have to have another pair which they ONLY wear for PE twice a week when the weather is good enough for it to be outside (indoors gym is bare foot).
Luckily we do have lots of friends with older children

I am sorry but ROFL at the idea of a coat "for parties" for a 19mo!

She must go to a lot of outdoor parties then!
My DD (we are talking more about girls than boys here I see) doesn't even have different clothes for parties, never mind a party coat - she generally takes off her coat when she gets somewhere.

I agree with Roisin (oh she's a wise woman) you lot must have lots of space. We are constantly clearing out our coat rack because there's no room on it for five people's coats!

DD (5) currently has 'school' shoes, which if I can keep them looking reasonable also do for parties, 1 pair trainers, 2 pairs of wellies (1 pair at school, 1 for home/allotment) 1 pair plimsolls (kept at school)

I tend to keep an eye out for non-school shoes in sales, we usually have a couple of pairs waiting for her to grow into IYSWIM.

With coats, again she has a 'good' coat for school/going out, and then a older one for playing in the garden in.

YANBU. DS has 5 pairs of shoes and 3 coats, and he's a MAN.
DD has
-boots for jeans
-trainers for tracksuits
-crocs for garden
-wellies for rain
-school shoes
-party shoes
-ugg boots

She also has
school coat
rain coat
dress coat
everyday coat

How do I afford it? EBAY.....
and the best of it is, I can usually sell the shoes etc for almost as much as I paid for them, so really only costs me postage.