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So today was the first day that really called for pants here in Texas… and alas, the boys’ pants are too short! I have a couple pairs of jeans for Aidan that I got on sale last spring, but Gresham needs a couple pairs. He has already worn holes in the knees of Aidan’s hand-me-down size 4′s, but I’m sure that 5′s will be too big. Plus, we hardly have any size 5 pants because Aidan wore holes all the way across both knees during his ownership of them, and they were cut off into shorts.
Here’s my dilemma:
I’ve already tried Goodwill. Our Goodwill is huge and clean and nice. But when you get to the racks of boys’ pants in sizes 4-8, you find that the racks are mostly bare, save for a few pairs of polyester spongebob pajama pants with pills on them and a few ugly dress pants that no one wants.
I’ve tried buying nicer brands – the ones in the picture are some L.L. Bean double layer jeans. They cost about $20 on sale (reg. $30), and I figured that they were worth it if they could last through multiple boys. While it’s true that Aidan hasn’t worn through both layers, they will only be used as play clothes for Gresham.
So it’s time for comments, dear readers!! Do I buy cheap pants and plan to replace them more often? Is it pointless to even consider handing down jeans? Are there any jeans out there that resist rips and holes?
I won’t get started on my annoyance with boys’ clothing being covered with dragons and skeletons and skate boarders and words in Chinese (that could say anything and I wouldn’t know any better). I’ll save that for another post! (Or maybe keep my complaints to myself!)
With my son, who is now 10, I have had very good luck with Levi’s lasting and lasting.
With my 6 yr old who is about as hard on jeans as my son, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Circo brand from Target. They are the hardiest jeans for her that I’ve come across.
Good luck on your quest!
My 10 yr old daughter wants me to buy her jeans that look like that! LOL My girls are not too hard on the jeans, I have handed down from the oldest to the younger child, but they are girls. Do people still patch jeans? I think there are even ones that can be ironed on…just a thought.
Give it up! LOL
After 3 boys I’ve finally given up on keeping ANY pair of pants very long. They are not allowed to wear their church pants for anything other than church – to hopefully make them last longer! ha! And the jeans well -some are better than others but I don’t know why! What is it with boys and holey knees?!?! 
We usually get the double kneed Lee pants from Kohls and stock up with a 30% off coupon (you get them pretty frequently if you have a charge account there. And you can pay off the credit card the moment you charge- at the register right after your purchase.) Also, you can stack that with the Kohls cash- $10 back for every $50 spent, so I think I have gotten them anywhere from $8-10 a pair. And they seem to last Joel almost all season.
We have 2 pair of nice jeans, that Joel isn’t allowed to roam on his knees. We use those ones like for evening church or going out in public.
We also have “home jeans” and “out jeans.” The home ones he is welcome to scoot on his knees, and go to the park, and destroy them, and I won’t get mad.
And I guess the holes are “in” anyway…
I think that’s the route we’re going to have to take… “home jeans” and “out jeans!” Maybe I can hang the nicer jeans in his closet so that he won’t accidentally put them on when he is getting dressed!
Oh, also, I have an amazing good will- I think it is the “biggest in the south.” If you tell me exactly what size and what you need, I can keep a lookout for you. I also frequent another thrift store, and the prices there are around $2 for name brand stuff, so I think even then it would be cheap to mail to you.
I just cut them off and never buy shorts!
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Thanks everyone for the suggestions! Now I just need to find a day to take them all out shopping! (Ugh.) On my facebook page, I also had recommendations for Circo and Levi’s, so I think we’ll start with those!
I like Sears brand and Lands End. They are both guarnteed for life and with three boys, I am willing to poke through the sales rack a few times a year.
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