When you have kids, especially a boy and a girl, you realize just how expensive kids can be. Especially when you can’t pass clothes down to the other sibling, because guess what? That hot pink tutu don’t look so hot on a boy and girls aren’t too keen on wearing dinosaurs.
So what to do? Well, the ever so frugal mom that I am looks for ways to reuse and really stretch every buck that I can. For instance: When my son outgrows his chucks, I keep them for Kenna to slosh around in our muddy, dog poo filled back yard. And those hiking boots? Well, they are good for girls to hike in too. Another easy one, gender neutral rain boots.
Passing down things like those at this age works well, and being more future-conscious when I make initial purchases for my son, can really work to my advantage when I can pass them on to my daughter.
The latest gender-neutral-conscientious decision that I made was for my kids' sandals this year.
On one crazy insane 5 hour shopping trip at the mall with the kids, I settled on these tan saltwater sandals for KennaKat. I LOVE saltwater sandals! They are the most comfortable and durable sandal on the market for kids. Plus they are soft real leather and adjustable meaning my messy kids can wear them anywhere and they wont break in a week or 2, nor will they give them blisters.
I spent another month searching for a good leather sandal for Ethylwolfe. All boys sandals are so ugly and thick and heavy after they get past size 12. My search for a sturdy, light-weight leather sandal that could fit my sons skinny/bony foot was coming up empty. Then one day I found a site selling Kenna’s same sandals on a boy and I thought ‘HEY! Those don’t look toooo girly. I wonder if I could pull that off on E, without getting him teased?”
Well, after meddling around with the idea for another few weeks, I finally ordered a pair for him. His first concern when pulling them out of the box was “Are these girls shoes?” “NOoooo!” I said. Then I showed him the picture of the boy online and said “SEE!” So he looked again and said, “Hey, these shoes have gold buckles, they must have cost a lot of money to have GOLD buckles!” I thought to myself for a second and said “You’re right! How cool is that that you get to have GOLD for buckles?!?!” Then he giggled and proceeded to love his shoes, because pirates have to go on treasure hunts for gold, but he’s got his on his buckles. Have I said how much I LOVE this age?? Oh and his shoes were a hit at school. No teasing and he can run, climb, and jump with the rest of them!
So my shoe crisis has been averted this year. I’ll be buying these for as long as I can and passing them along to Miss KennaKat.
What do you think? Gender neutral Score! or am I setting up my son for a major tease fest???
So what to do? Well, the ever so frugal mom that I am looks for ways to reuse and really stretch every buck that I can. For instance: When my son outgrows his chucks, I keep them for Kenna to slosh around in our muddy, dog poo filled back yard. And those hiking boots? Well, they are good for girls to hike in too. Another easy one, gender neutral rain boots.
Passing down things like those at this age works well, and being more future-conscious when I make initial purchases for my son, can really work to my advantage when I can pass them on to my daughter.
The latest gender-neutral-conscientious decision that I made was for my kids' sandals this year.
On one crazy insane 5 hour shopping trip at the mall with the kids, I settled on these tan saltwater sandals for KennaKat. I LOVE saltwater sandals! They are the most comfortable and durable sandal on the market for kids. Plus they are soft real leather and adjustable meaning my messy kids can wear them anywhere and they wont break in a week or 2, nor will they give them blisters.
I spent another month searching for a good leather sandal for Ethylwolfe. All boys sandals are so ugly and thick and heavy after they get past size 12. My search for a sturdy, light-weight leather sandal that could fit my sons skinny/bony foot was coming up empty. Then one day I found a site selling Kenna’s same sandals on a boy and I thought ‘HEY! Those don’t look toooo girly. I wonder if I could pull that off on E, without getting him teased?”
Well, after meddling around with the idea for another few weeks, I finally ordered a pair for him. His first concern when pulling them out of the box was “Are these girls shoes?” “NOoooo!” I said. Then I showed him the picture of the boy online and said “SEE!” So he looked again and said, “Hey, these shoes have gold buckles, they must have cost a lot of money to have GOLD buckles!” I thought to myself for a second and said “You’re right! How cool is that that you get to have GOLD for buckles?!?!” Then he giggled and proceeded to love his shoes, because pirates have to go on treasure hunts for gold, but he’s got his on his buckles. Have I said how much I LOVE this age?? Oh and his shoes were a hit at school. No teasing and he can run, climb, and jump with the rest of them!
So my shoe crisis has been averted this year. I’ll be buying these for as long as I can and passing them along to Miss KennaKat.
What do you think? Gender neutral Score! or am I setting up my son for a major tease fest???
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