As the kids grow there are eras that are outgrown. The ample amounts of baby gear and strollers have long since been passed down to neighbours and friends. In the past are the chunky primary coloured toddler toys and sandbox gear. Replaced with tiny bits of lego, hotwheels, skateboards, bikes and electronic gadgets. Now that they are older, they make many of their own decisions regarding toys.
Let it be said here... older brother is not very good at passing down his toys... even if he doesn't want them anymore, he doesn't like "giving" them to his brother. It's been a stress-point since the beginning. I try not to get in the middle of the battles, but I do have to mediate from time to time to keep either from collecting too much broken or worn out items or paying too much or trying to take back items after a deal has been reached, etc etc... and I will sometimes pre-empt the transaction by selling or donating the item to prevent younger from having too much (failing miserably with that BTW).
Up until very recently, I have kept my older boy's clothing after he's outgrown to be hand-me-down to the younger (elastic waist bands are forgiving for different shapes) it takes between 2-4 years depending on the timing of their growth spurts. There is a place in the storage closet for these things and totes marked and rotated.
Suddenly a new era has appeared.
Young boy is heftier than the slim older one... and there aren't a lot of adjustable waist bands on the pre-teen sizing. Not much CAN be passed down I realised last size switch. Out of 12 pairs of pants he could only wear 5! The rest went to charity after storing for so long... kind of annoying really.
Here is the dilemma... do I keep the totes for the years in between ages "just in case" the clothes will fit and be appealing to the younger one? Or do I let the skinny jeans go now and just accept that more money will be spent when the time comes for the younger to need new pants?
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