Kids clothing with their name on it

File this under things I just understand:
Buying your young child custom clothing with their name on it.

Since having Jay and following more mommy bloggers I've noticed a lot of them show pictures of their youngins in clothing with their names custom embroidered on it.

I don't mean to offend anyone, but I just don't understand... why?

I'll admit, I've thought about getting Jay some custom made shirts with his name on it (and with his name, unless we go with his nickname of Jay, we kind of have to custom make it as his actual name is so unique). But then two reasons not to pop into my head.

1 - did you NOT see this kids After School/Saturday Morning PSA in the late 80s and early 90s when you were a kid??



For those that didn't watch the blast from the past PSA, it basically warns you of the dangers of wearing clothing with your name on it - the big concern being that strangers can act like they know you, potentially claiming your parent told them to come get you and escort you home. Granted, in this day and age, not many parents are letting their kids roam the neighborhood or go to the playground alone as things have changed so much in the last 20 years, and obviously you're not going to leave your baby alone but still... the PSA and it's message still lurks in the back of my mind.

And 2 - you can't "hand me down" the item and reuse it for future kids, which seems like a waste to me. We're planning on having at least 1 more child, if not 2, at some point down the road so you can bet that as Jay outgrows his clothes I box them up and put them in our storage room so our future babies can wear them. Sure, he's a boy, but some of the stuff can work for both genders if we do have a girl and obviously another little boy can wear them as well. Once all our kids have outgrown them then I'll either pass the non-keepsake ones onto a relative or just donate them. Who knows - maybe some of the keepsake ones they'll pass onto their own kids. But you can't do that with clothes that have 1 child's name on it. And that just seems like a waste of money to me.

Just my 2 cents though and something to keep in mind while you consider getting that super cute personalized onesie or t-shirt!