Back in April, the Bear needed summer clothes: he had no shorts that fit him, and few shirts with short sleeves. I mentioned this to Mr-Mama. At the time, he was wearing mostly 24-month sizes, but still had some larger 18-month stuff that fit. Accordingly, I told her that his size was 24-month. She went to Kohl's and spent a ton of money on shorts and shirts that were all size 2T. They were miles too big for him, and when I told her they were the wrong size, she said they didn't have anything in 24-month and got all stubborn about how he would grow into them. Well, yeah, it's possible that he may move up a size by the end of the summer and need these clothes, but right now he has nothing to put on and these didn't fit.
Rather than argue with her any longer, I just put all the stuff in a bag and returned it to Kohl's for store credit, which I then used to buy shorts and shirts in the size he actually wears. I also discovered that when she said they didn't have his size, she meant that the specific items she bought him were not available in the "infant" department, only the toddler department. OK, lady, but here's the thing - he's not going to magically get big enough to wear those clothes just because they have a sale on Osh Kosh.
Whatever. I chalked it up and moved on, figuring that by the time he is big enough for those clothes, she will have forgotten exactly what she bought and won't notice that he never wears them. Then came yesterday.
I dropped the Bear off for an afternoon visit (bless her) and she had a bag of stuff for me, some for the Seagull and some for Bear - including one pair of matching outfits which I just knew would give Mr. J a coronary. She bought the Gull's outfits in two different sizes, not knowing what she was wearing. The Bear's were all 2T. I couldn't tell from the tags if this was another Kohl's extravaganza, and frankly I didn't feel like hauling another load in to return, so I handed his back and said, "oh, this was so nice of you, but none of this will fit him." She said, "That's the same size I bought him last time," and I said, "yes, and I told you last time that he is not in size 2T yet." She kept on about the last stuff she bought, and finally I had to say that I took it all back to exchange, and I would be happy to do the same with this if she would tell me where it came from. She got all big-eyed and started listing off individual items ... "the little Chaps shirt with the stripes? You took that back?" Agony.
She got super huffy about how she wished I had told her that it wasn't the right size, and it was all I could do to stay diplomatic while repeating, "I'm very sorry but I thought I made that clear." In a tone of noble sacrifice she said she would take these latest things back to exchange herself. On the way out the door I saw a giant bag of stuff that I greatly suspect was also for him in the wrong size.
I wish I had just kept my mouth shut. Not only is she all up in arms and offended, but now I'm going to be stuck with her selections. I prefer that the Bear wear shirts with collars, and I don't do t-shirts with slogans, but she pays no attention to my taste. One t-shirt in particular will never see the light of day ... the chances that I am going to put a shirt on my kid that says "Ahoy ladies"? Zero, no matter how many anchors are decorating it.
All I'm saying is, if you want to waste your money shopping for things that you like, regardless of the size or taste of the intended recipient, don't get all offended when your shit gets exchanged. Seems simple enough.
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