Hand Me Ups · 8 March 2014
My kids are getting bigger than me, which means that I am getting hand me up clothing now.
Growing up, I was the oldest (still am) and largest of four children and handed down the clothing I did not wear out. But it seems that as the older I get, the more used clothing I get handed up to me. I have gotten clothes that my Dad outgrew (which are actually too big for me). My brothers have also given me clothes that are too small for them (which are also usually too big for me). I have gotten clothes from our oldest son, Thing 1 (which are too big for me too). To add insult to injury, now, Thing 3 (our youngest) is giving me his old clothes (which fit just about right).
All of my kids are now bigger than me. Or at least close. I knew it was inevitable, but I thought I had a couple more years.
Thing 1 has been taller and heavier than me for a few years now. Thing 2 may or may not be taller than me depending on the lighting and who is measuring. And Thing 3 is just a tad shorter than me but we are almost the same weight. Like I said, I knew it was going to happen, but I was hoping that it might be in a couple more years. After all, Thing 3 just became a teenager.
I should have realized it was coming when I got that first pair of kid pants about six months ago. I never realized that boy size 18 pants were just 30 × 30s (waist, inseam). All these years, I could have been saving money on clothing just buying kid pants, if I had been thinner. Then again, it might not be the greatest bragging point to tell the world that you wore a pair of Toughskin jeans. Especially, if they were the ones with reinforced knees. Not that I ever did that, mind you, but with the boys leaving the kid pants behind, it might be time for me to start shopping in the boys department.
At any rate, it is nice getting new stuff without having to get new stuff. Like many men, I do not like shopping for clothes. I figure, that if clothes do not have holes in them and they are not too small, they are fine to wear in public. My wife, The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi, thinks otherwise. She says that clothes get ratty and are not fit for public wearing. And that clothes which are too big or too small are not flattering and as such cannot be worn in public either. I guess it is a good thing that The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi watches out for me or I might not have any clothes to wear. And it is good she watches what the kids want to get rid of so I can have what they do not want anymore.
When it comes right down to it, I have not really gotten that many clothes from my kids. And when I do, it is usually just clothes for home anyway. (I have only worn those Toughskins once in public.) But it is nice to know that I can get hand me ups from my siblings and my kids. And who knows, if my boys start wearing more than jeans and t-shirts, my wardrobe might even start getting stylish as they get older. As long as they do not get too much bigger than me.
© 2014 Michael T. Miyoshi
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