A Simple Shirt

I spent a few hours going through the dresser drawers of the kids the other day, trying to free up some space. Since we have a five-year-old daughter and a soon-to-be three-year-old daughter, I have a box or two of hand-me-downs that our eldest wore, and it was time to get them out for the next in line.

While in the middle of the cleaning process, I was separating the shirts from the pants so they could be placed in the appropriate drawers. After the pants were safely put away (no easy task with the help of a toddler) I started separating the short-sleeved shirts from the long-sleeved shirts, and I took notice of one certain shirt that I knew had been a hand-me-down from a friend.

This shirt was adorable, and I remembered that Beth had worn it every time I had taken it out of the dryer. It is made of a heavy cotton material, and I was sure it was at least five years old at the time because my friend's daughter was that age. That would make it about eight years old now, and it did not have a single blemish, stain or tear as I examined it very closely. When Cristen put it on, she exclaimed that she "loved this shirt" and once again it is the chosen attire when it is pulled from the dryer.

This shirt really got my attention as I continued to fold and put clothes away. My curiosity overtook my desire to finish my task at hand, and I went on an internet search for the current price of the same type of shirt. The shirt had a Gymboree(tm) tag on it and it would cost about $22.00 to purchase it new today.

Armed with that information, I went back to the clothes in search of other clothes that have withstood at least Beth's life; wanting to compare to see if I was getting more value by purchasing items at my local discount store or purchasing from the Gymboree-type of store.

When we are in a growth spurt, I find that I run out and grab a few Garanamal's(tm) shirts. They are inexpensive at about $3.50 per shirt, and as long as I recognize that I should buy a size larger than actual size (experience has shown that the shrinkage factor is greater), then I am not spending a lot of money for something that will not be worn for very long. Unfortunately, this also means that the lower quality shirt does not usually get passed on to the next child, either, as the quality is just not compatible with long-term usage.

Taking that higher-end shirt and putting the crunch on the price, I realized that I had a super shirt (that will most likely make it through this child as well as #4 when she arrives) that (so far) costs about $2.75 per year; verses the *cheaper* shirt that cannot be amortized over the life of a few children because it does not hold up.

Although the higher priced shirts will cost me more up front, there is no doubt that they will be passed on amongst our own brood as well as to the thrift store or other friends when we are finished with them and our savings will be realized in the long run. Of course, our son does not have to wear his sister's clothes so my course of action may be different with him - unless he continues to create havoc like I found when I went back to finish working on the dresser. Then, none of us may have to worry about putting him in clothes as I will be searching for a zoo that takes monkeys!

Tammy Harrison is a wife and mother of three children (5, 2, 1) and another on the way, as well as a home-based working mom. She has a degree from Mizzou in Consumer Economics. She is the Independent Creative Representative for Home-Based Working Moms (hbwm.com), email TammyH@jdharrison.com. Subscribe to HBWM free eNewsletter by sending an email to hbwmoms-e-news-subscribe@egroups.com Copyright Tammy Harrison.

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