1st Time Dad Probs

My wife has always been a spender. Coffee? Sure. Food? Sure. Clothes? Absolutely! Do we have the funds to maintain her love of spending? Probably not, but that’s what separate bank accounts are for, right? With my wife’s love of shopping and purchasing things pre-baby, it was only natural that post-baby spending would be a whole other ball game. Now she had her own personal shopping buddy, that naturally looks cute in everything!

Now, our house is not very big, but we do have 2 closets in our bedroom. I know what you are thinking; so one closet for you one closet for her. WRONG. She gets both. My closet is in our spare bedroom/dungeon area that has no lighting and is used for storage or just where we throw things quickly if we have company coming over. Having two closets seems like it would be plenty of space, but not for my wife. She has both closets filled to the brim as well as a large dresser that won’t close all the way due to the overflow of clothing. To top it off she has 2 drawers that are connected to our bed filled with clothes. Naturally, she still needs more space.

Now that you have an idea of what I’m working with, you can imagine my horror when I realized what we were going to do when we have a baby and need space for her things. We only have one more bedroom! The closet isn’t that big in there, and if my wife’s area was any indication of the baby’s closet, we are in for trouble. To make space for everything so our house doesn’t look cluttered, I told my wife she really needs to get rid of some clothes…

A week goes by, nothing is gone. 2 weeks goes by, still nothing is gone, 1 month with a few gentle reminders goes by and still nothing is thrown out or donated. Alright, let me take matters into my own hands. I had her sit on the bed and I took out the clothes that I have not seen in YEARS! “Oh! I forgot about that! Love it, keep!”, she would say. I would respond with, “but you haven’t worn it in years, do you really need it?”. I shouldn’t have even asked. On to the next item. “again, you haven’t worn this in like 5 years, can we toss?”, I said. “No!! I remember wearing that one time and it was a great day! Gotta keep it”, she replied. It was a lost cause. I think we got rid of 2 t-shirts.

Feeling defeated, I had to change my course of action. What do I do? I wait until she isn’t home and I dive in. I pull a bunch of items I know she hasn’t worn since college, bag them, and put them in the donation bin. To make it less noticeable, I added an extra shelve in the closet to make it look more organized. I know it seems manipulative, but drastic times calls for drastic measures. I would also like to note that to this day, she still does not know I got rid of some clothes, but this post will surely put me in the dog house.

Now that I can breathe a bit more in my own room, it was time to give the green light for my wife to begin purchasing some clothes for the baby. To me, “some” means maybe 10 outfits, a few pairs of shoes, and because we were having a girl, about 2-3 bows. WRONG. So wrong. Before my daughter was even done developing her fingers, she had more clothes than a Kardashian (and yes I hate myself for using that reference). I’m talking 30 full outfits, 25 onesies, 25 pairs of pants to go with the onesies, 20 pairs of shoes, and an entire drawer full of bows (over 100 if I had to guess). 

Fast forward to the baby finally arriving, the spending has only gotten worse. I think we receive a new package from Posh Peanut or another boutique brand for baby clothes in our mail every other day. The one thing that was an even bigger shock was how expensive the clothes can be. Everything my wife is buying is the size of my left foot, but it some how costs $30 or more. Granted my wife takes pride in the clothes she buys my daughter, but I do feel like my daughter would feel just as great in the consignment store hand me downs. But, what do I know. 

I also didn’t realize that she not only shops for the little munchkin in current form, but she also shops for every stage of life. We are now set for clothes until the baby is going off to college it feels like. I see one outfit in the closet 3 times, and when I ask why, I get a response like, “i love it so much I want to ensure we have it for when she grows out of one!”Can’t beat that logic!

As if the spending on baby clothes was not enough of a shock to me, I never could have anticipate the spending on bows, headbands, and other baby head garnishments. We have an entire drawer full to the brim of these head pieces. I know what you’re thinking; no way does the baby even wear half of them. WRONG. She wears almost all of them with her many outfit changes throughout the day. The Queen of England changes her head attire less often than this kid.

As much as the spending does get to me (and my bank account), I do have to appreciate the time and dedication my wife takes to my our daughter the most fashionable child in the country. Without her vision, I probably would have her walking around in just a diaper.

Check out the products I love tab for more clothing ideas I have learned about through being surrounded by women in my home!