Missing Size

Today is pajama day at Alyssa's school. She's always up for such events and so last night she pulled every single pair of pajamas out of her dresser in search for school-worthy jammies.

She did not want to wear a sleeper (her preferred sleepwear) because today is also gym day and she knew a sleeper would be too hot.

After an exhaustive search, we found nothing she deemed appropriate, so I suggested we go downstairs where we found a package wrapped and placed lovingly beneath the Christmas tree that said, "Alyssa, open Christmas Eve."

She opened said package last night, 10 days early, and found some adorably, extremely soft green pajamas with frolicking monkeys. (Fret not, Olivia also found a package under the tree that told her to open it on Christmas Eve and she, too, opened it early and found the exact same pajamas, but a few sizes smaller.)

Speaking of sizes, the pajamas in Alyssa's package were sized 10/12.

She'll be eight in about four weeks. Her size 7/8 clothes are getting short. Not so much tight, but short.

When I went shopping for clothes for Alyssa this past week, I was frustrated to find that sizing goes form 7/8 to 10/12. What are nine year olds supposed to wear?

Or how about tall, thin eight year olds?

It's insane and frustrating that we had to pin her pajama pants this morning to keep them up but if I'd gone with the 7/8, they'd have been too short.

Manufacturers of kids clothes? Where are the size 9 clothes? Do you think that nine year olds don't need clothes?

Seriously, this is insanity.

Or, wait, kids don't grow between the years of seven and ten and at ten, they have a sudden huge growth spurt. Right?

Except not right. Because Alyssa's grown at least two inches since the start of school.

So we buy big and pin the heck out of the waistbands. She hates the adjustabel waistbands they have out there. Which is not surprising. She hates anything that binds or scrapes or pinches or rubs in any way.

Maybe her next growth spurt will just put her into the 10/12 size range rather than catapult her right over it.

A mom on a budget can hope, right?