FashBlog.com

By Christina VanGinkel

I have concluded that purchasing clothing for my thirteen-year-old son is going to be a never-ending battle. Just when I think I can take a respite from buying him something, he informs me that he has once again outgrown whatever it is he happens to need 'now'! With the snowboard season starting in roughly a week and a half, he informed me a few days ago that his pair of snowboard pants we purchased towards the end of season last year (because he outgrew the pair he started the season with) no longer fit him. In disbelief, I had him try them on. Let us just say that there was no way he was going to be racing across the terrain park in those, unless he was dressing up for a costume party as a goofball!

As I deal with the fact that he has grown an astonishing six inches in the span of one year, he shows no signs of slowing down. Along with the growth in height, he has increased another shoe size, now making him a size men's twelve. Where he once was a bit taller than his brother, who is twenty-three, he now towers over him, making the possibility of him passing on any clothes he does outgrow, to his brother, not even possible.

I also know that I am not the only parent facing this dilemma. I constantly hear other parents making a comment that keeping up with purchasing clothing that actually fits their kids is a constant struggle. I have learned to combat this somewhat by not minding that my son prefers a somewhat baggy look for his clothing. He wears his jeans a bit loose in the waist, and a bit on the long side. T-shirts are worn in a similar size scenario. If he wanted a smooth fit, what is a problem would be an actual nightmare! When it comes to items such as his current need, snowboard pants, I turn to online outlets such as Overstock.com, first. With low shipping and prices slashed as low as a parent could want, they often save me from meltdown. I was able to find him a pair of Ozone snowboard pants in basic black, with features often found on much more expensive gear, marked from a high of one hundred dollars, down to twenty-nine dollars. Even with shipping, the final price was still less than what I could find a cheaply made pair locally.

Besides online outlets, and turning a blind eye to a clothing style that would have drove me over the edge with my older son just a few years back, I also shop clearance racks every chance I can. I also let him tell me if something 'fits' or does not. With shoes, I was tempted to have him go with a size eleven at the start of the school year, but he insisted that though they appeared to fit, they seemed just a tad tight across. Within a few weeks of buying him a size twelve, which I felt too big, they fit him perfectly, and I was actually fearful that we maybe should have gone with a size thirteen! If you have a child that seems to busting out at the seams, at least know that you are not alone!