Do You Have "Play Clothes" for Your Kids?

I have 4 kids & all of them know which are play clothes & which are NOT play clothes. My 3 1/2 yr old girl always wants to wear her nice clothes so I have decided to take her nice clothes out of her room & put them in an undisclosed location. Now if we go out somewhere where she has to look decent (no stains) I can pull out her nice clothes & dont have to worry. She is not happy about this but I told her she is not listening to me so that was my only choice. Maybe I am nuts but I dont like my kids to look ratty either.

we have play clothes, too. my girls are 2 years and 18 months. even at this age, i'm finding they can dirty anything just by walking outside! so, i've made some of their clothes for just playtimes outside or around the house. they don't wear them anywhere else.

i can't stand taking them out to dinner or wherever with stains on their clothes. i figure i don't wear my 'play clothes' to go eat or out anywhere, so my kids shouldn't either. granted, they have managed to dirty up some of their non-play clothes while out for dinner! :)

Not really. Of course they have some "dress up" clothes, but I don't have separate casual clothes for some events. But I do retire things, or they become pajama tops, when I can't get stains out.

ETA - but I have boys, and I think that makes a difference. A couple of moms of girls have told me they buy clothes in the boys dept. because it lasts longer. I don't know if that's true, but the colors seem better-designed to hide dirt!

Hey.... I don't blame you one bit!!!! Why would you want your daughter/stepdaughter to look ratty all the time? Especially if she is that hard on clothes. As she gets a little older, she'll lighten up a bit but... I think you have to designate some outfits as nicer, school wear. At my son's school, even if it is designerwear, they don't want holes in the knees - and some people pay big bucks for holey jeans!

And... better yet, by designating some as "play clothes" you are actually letting her PLAY, which, so many kids have so many activities booked, afterschool, these days, it's wonderful that she gets to run, jump, climb and be a kid!!!!

Kudos to you!

i'd say we have "nice clothes" and then the rest. and then maybe mud clothes for real bad days. life's too short to worry about a stain or 2. since as the day goes on, stains happen. so, unless you change clothes 3-4x a day it does happen.

: )

Absolutely!! My daughter is not going to the park in a $40 Gap Dress!! She wears the shirt with the chocolate stain from our last trip to the mall:)
I dont know a single mother that doesnt designate dress clothes from play clothes:)

you are not nuts! someone who doesn't designate certain clothes as good or play clothes is the nutty one! my kids are 20 and 14 and still have good clothes and play/workout clothes! so do my husband and myself!

I ABSOLUTELY DO!!! I learned my lesson the hard way and now we have a drwer for outside, painting, etc and the closet clothes are for school, and going places. You are definitely NOT nuts!

Totally do the play clothes thing! You've got to! Otherwise your kids look like rag-a-muffins all the time and I find it embarrassing.

I am totally with you on this. I have always had disignated play clothes for my two girls. Kids are so hard on their clothes that I don't want the nicer items destroyed with dirt and spills. This way I don't stress about it and the kids can play as hard as they want. I think people should have some pride in the way their kids look when in public and at events. But when it's play time no one needs to worry about it. All the moms I know have this same philosophy.

i have play clothes for my 6 year old he has school clothes and play clothes i dont think your nuts kids should have nice clothes for school and other clothes for after school it would drive me crazy to see my son walking around with stains on all of his clothes. i mean you dont want her to be playing in white clothes and playing in the mud and sliding across the grass and getting stains well at lest i dont think i would but no your not nuts and i think all kids should have play clothes

good luck

I agree that you're NOT nuts. But maybe these other people just don't hold very high expectations for your stepdaughter. I have seen countless people that think kids are "just supposed to be kids" - messy, impolite and ill-mannered. They treat their kids like adorable little idiots.

I will say, similar to some of the other postings, I am more careful to have "nice" clothes, for church, dinners out and other family events. My girls are taught to take EXTRA good care of these clothes...in the hamper or on the hanger, no exceptions. The same goes for their "good" shoes...they do not go outside for playtime. They are to be kept clean to go with out special clothes.

I do have "play clothes". Most of our clothes are what I would call "everyday" clothes. The ones with stains, small tears, etc. have been taken out and put in a downstairs cabinet...these I mostly use for when my kids are going to get messy (mud, sand & water table, etc.) I will put these "play clothes" on them OR if they get what they are wearing dirty, I put them in these "play clothes" as their second set of clothes for the day. Usually these go on late in the day when the kids are still 1/2 dirty so they can continue playing while I'm making dinner. I can't see putting "clean, everyday" clothes on 1/2 dirty kids while they're still busy playing. With that said, everyone in our family has "gardening shoes" that we keep on hand in the garage for those days where we're planting or working outside and need gym shoes for slopping around in.

I think you're right on track. Maybe if you change what you say to your family, don't focus on the "play clothes" but instead focus on keeping some "fancy/special" clothes. That way it's just a few outfits and 1 pair of shoes that you're keeping sacred instead of focusing on keeping the majority of her clothes unstained???

I hope this helps!

Sara

I have tried to do this-separate clothes for play, school and going out. The only thing I have been able to keep as nice clothes are those for going out to eat or such. One of my girls can rip a new pair of jeans the same day she puts them on for the first time. I have gotten to the point that as long as they are not wearing stained or tattered clothes to school , I have to try to accept it. I do try to beat them to the punch though when going through their clothes and getting rid of anything that looks horrible.

We don't have play clothes, per se. But my kids know which outfits they can run around outside and get dirty in and which outfits are for school or nicer events.