She Shall Have No Clothing for One Year

K needed a new swim suit. Her friend who frequently gives us her hand-me-downs gave her a really cute one, but it was a bit...saggy in the booty area. I attributed this to the slightly rounder body type of her friend and a season of prior use, and I set off to buy her a new one at the Walmarts since Target had let us down on two prior occasions. We found one we could stand and I purchased a size 7/8. We brought it home and almost as an after thought, I told her not to take the tag off before she tried it on. Once the suit was on, she let me know that it was too short for her, as evidenced by the straining straps and 80's thong effect, and I set out to exchange the suit.

Did you know that your all night WalMart will not process returns after 10 pm? No? Well, don't try and do it at 9:55 either because even though a customer service clerk is there and clearly not headed home any time soon, they will not allow you to walk back and grab another size. One strike against JIT distribution strategies.

So I grudgingly purchased a second swim suit and brought it home. Now, in my experience with dressing children over the last 14 years, I have come to understand children's clothing sizes somewhat. Generally speaking, your child's clothing size will be roughly their age. So tell me, for the love of everything that is holy, WHY WHY WHY do they sell swim suits in size 4/5, 6-6X, 7/8, 10/12 and so forth? What do you do when you are 9? 7/8 splits you up the middle and 10/12 might look a little loose when you are dry, but the moment you get wet it will sag like your grandmamma's behind?

I don't even want to contemplate what purchasing jeans for her in the fall will be like.