On little boys and mending their trousers
Autumn was upon us and it was time to put away the shorts and bring out the long trousers for my 2 boys. That was the easy part. The hard part was sorting through the trousers which were too short, too tight, or those whose knees are frayed or torn. By the time I finished, 4 pairs needed to have their hems lowered, 3 pairs needed to have elastic bands repaired, and 7 pairs needed mending. In other words, my boys didn’t have any respectable pair of trousers to speak of. And we were about to leave for vacation in 3 days.
Now, I can do most household choirs competently enough except two – ironing and sewing. God knows I tried. When my mother-in-law asked me a couple of years back what I wanted for my *th birthday, I immediately said “a sewing machine.” Unfortunately, having one in my possession did not necessarily improve my enthusiasm or my skills for mending – especially trousers’ knees.
Now, I really want my boys to enjoy life and do what little boys love do – playing football, climbing trees, jumping off swings. I can even handle the daily mountain of dirty laundry. But mending! And mending them nicely, too, that they’d look acceptable enough for pre-school wear. Now, why hasn’t anybody ever invented untearable textiles?
So in the end, I had to do a rushed shopping for trousers. 6 pairs of trousers, 3 for each boy. I closed my eyes as I handed over my credit card to the lady at the cash out. I crossed my fingers that the trousers will last till the end of winter.
The first day of vacation, 1 pair of trousers got “holed” in one knee. After a week, we were down to 3 “holeless” pairs.
A friend once suggested I should make my boys wear knee protectors, you know, the ones used by inline skaters. Now I’m really seriously thinking about it.
So, mommies out there with active little boys – do you also have knee trousers’ problems? Any tips for a harried, almost bankrupt mommy?
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Secret Mommy says...
They do make a rip-free textile, if you can find little boys clothing made out of the material army fatigues are made out of. I think the fabric is called rip-stop. My husband has a pair of official army camo pants that he wears on our ranch and they are indestructible.
And I’m not a very good sewer or mender, either, but yesterday I did happen upon a really terrific sale at the children’s place store, so I bought a few different sizes of pants to last us a while. They were around $5 or $6 per pair. (Though I have a baby and the small sizes may have been cheaper…)
Secret Mommys last blog post..Baby Milestones
Dila says...
My son (loves playing soccer very much)is now turning 8 years old and I has just had a solution for the same problem. I’m not sure if my experience would be applicable to you as your sons are very young, but let me tell you how it worked.
My son’s trouser uniforms used to last not more than a month. They got holes in the knees. Then one day, out of desperation, I told him that I felt very sad and embarrassed seeing him went to school with torn trousers because the new uniform we ordered hadn’t arrived yet. I said it to him every day until finally he managed to still play soccer at school but at the same time keep his trousers safe. I don’t have to re-order school uniforms any more now.
Dilas last blog post..Pre marriage guide: Does the number of children in a family determine how well parents raise their children?