Really, Really Don't.

Think of something that smells really, really bad.  Not like overcooked broccoli or BO, but really bad.  Personally, I think of the time when a bird got into our garbage can and got stuck in there.  Nobody knew about it until approximately three days later.  I'm guessing three days is how long it takes for the smell to start.  Not a lot of things smell like a rotting corpse, even one as small as a bird.  But I can think of one thing.

In the early years of marriage and parenting, pretty much everyone is scraping for every penny.  Finding clever ways to save money is not just clever, it's required.  If the choice is between groceries and wearing hand-me-downs, you're an idiot if you turn up your nose at pre-worn clothes.  Even if you're not so strapped as to worry about making choices, sharing and swapping kids clothes is simply good sense. There is one thing, however, you must never save and reuse.  Ever.

Proper storage of boy shoes MUST include VENTILATION

Do not ever save used boys' tennis shoes, especially if you're going to store in them in a box with a snug-fitting lid.  Even if the boy is only 4 years old.

I did this once.  I learned.  There's nearly 5 years between boys #1 & #2, so the shoes had been in the box for awhile.  But really, even a dead animal would have stopped smelling quite so badly after 5 years.  But genuine, grade A, Walmart plastic shoes go on smelling forever.   I should have saved them for chemical experimentation.  Interesting analytical breakdowns could have been done.  New chemical weaponry might have been developed.  Except that's a bad thing, so never mind.  Anyway, the smell is something like minced garlic soaked in wet gym socks that have been sitting in a hot car.  It's impressive, especially considering no teenagers were involved.  That would have been fatal, I'm quite certain. 

Generally speaking, however, the question of what/how/whether to save boys' clothing is a moot point.  There usually is nothing left to save.  Boys destroy clothes.  And what they don't ruin, they lose.  Ok, that's not entirely true.  Sunday clothes can be passed down, not just from brother to brother, but from father to son, and thence onwards to grandsons because those clothes are worn for the absolute minimum amount of time required.  Most of my boys, on the return trip from church, exit the car mostly naked.  The collar and the buttons and the TIE cannot be tolerated the 6 whole blocks it takes for us to get home, though why Matthew must not only take off his shoes but also completely unlace his shoes EVERY SUNDAY, I really do not know.  I've asked him.  Answer? "Idunno."  At least he's stopped tying them together and whipping his Sunday School classmates.  Making lemonade, that's me.

Kudos to Garanimals -- Worn and liked by all 5 boys!

Aside from Sunday clothes, as a mother of a male child, you can plan to save and pass on/resell these items:

1.  Shirts he doesn't like and doesn't wear very often.

2.  um . . .

Oh, I know: shorts.   Shorts don't have knees and therefore don't wear out so fast.  Pants in general, however, not a chance.  After age 3 or 4, your boy will rip through the knees of every pair of pants he has (except dress slacks (the horror!)) until age 14.  The average lifespan of a pair of boy size 8 Levi's is either 3 months or 1 month before he will grow out of them anyway: too soon to move up to 10s, too long to go without jeans.  For awhile, I was really good about turning knee-less jeans into jean shorts.  These will last FOREVER.  First, you will have 73 pairs of them.  Second, your son will declare them "too hot" to wear in the summer and never wear them.  And if you have multiple sons like me, they just keep piling up.  I think I even have "earned-interest" jean shorts.  You know, like interest you earn with a bank account (bahahahahahaha!!! Ya, know :D a quarter of a percent really adds up! Early Retirement, here we come!) But seriously, whose jeans were these?

Upon reaching age 14, he will request jeans that come pre-holed, for an extra $50.  Pants HE put holes into are garbage.  But pants Tommy Hilfiger put holes into are acceptable.  Bleh.

Sooooo many pairs that look like this

You can try to get those ToughSkins jeans from Sears or JC Penney or whatever store sells them.  But it would be cheaper to just go to Home Depot and buy a package of 1/4 sheet fine-grit sandpaper and glue that to the inside of your kid's jeans.  Either way, the knees will absolutely last on the jeans because your son will walk straight-legged like the Tin Man from then on.  It's either that or lose the top 3 layers of the skin on his knees.  There's a reason they don't sell these kinds of pants to adults.  Well, two reasons.  1) Grown ups don't crawl all over creation like monkeys and rip out the knees in all of their pants and 2) we generally avoid clothing that grinds off our skin.

If you can, convince your child that basketball shorts are THE THING to wear.  Year-round.  Cold-schmold.  Blue skin is all the look since Avatar, right? They wash, they wear, they don't have knees but they DO cover the knees.  More than once, a son has practically cried at the prospect of wearing "tiny" shorts that came to two inches above the knee.  (I should've saved some awesome shorts from the 80's for them to wear.  How on earth did we ever think those looked ok? Man-thigh is just not a body part that should be seen. Ever.) So today's shorts are practically capris -- except guys don't wear capris and should you make the massive mistake of comparing basketball shorts to capris, you will have a pile of now unwearable shorts on your hands.  Mums the word, eh?

Sport shoes, though, you should save and pass on and bequeath.  If you think having to replace full wardrobes at the start of every school year is expensive, wait until you have to buy whatever form of specialized shoe your son needs for whatever his current sport is EVERY SEASON because they can and will jump 3 shoe sizes in 3 months.  I have a full range of sizes in football cleats, soccer cleats, wrestling shoes, basketball shoes sprint spikes, middle distance spikes, jumping/pole vault spikes, snowboard boots, hiking boots, and standard snow boots.  And the CHEAP pairs were $50 each.  Just keep them in the garage with FULL VENTILATION!! 

PS: If your son ever volunteers to wear his church clothes voluntarily at any other time than the exact moment when he has to put them on for church, say NO.  Those clothes will then have a life span of 14 seconds as he will be heading directly to the closest mud pit. Boys aren't dumb.