For years my kiddos wore mostly Children’s Place and Gymboree clothes. And they still wear a lot of it because we can occasionally get really good deals. Oh, and because Mammy buys them a ton of beautiful clothes from there.  I’m always thankful for whatever we’re given.  Gifted clothes are the best clothes.

But there are times when we do buy our own kids clothes.  And, in the past couple of years, I’ve been drawn to Garanimals, the brand carried by Walmart. I’m actually a big fan. Here’s the pros and cons:

Pros:

• Quality. You may be questioning me at this point but I’m telling the truth. We’re hard on our clothes. Really hard. Clara and Kate (the twins) go to day care so we’ve got lots of assorted stains every day and they play pretty rough on the playground. They give the pavement and wood chips a run for their money.  Plus, laundry sorting isn’t our strongest attribute so they get thrown in with other stuff that that might not be the best- think clothes with velcro, etc.  Yet, the Garanimals clothes still hold up really well through it all without fading or piling like the Gymboree and Children’s Place clothes tend to do faster.

• Cuteness. The clothes are pretty darn cute. Don’t get me wrong. There are some graphic tee designs that I’m not crazy about. But that’s true for all brands. Clara is pretty picky about her clothes and she still likes a lot of them.  Yes, I realize two (tomorrow) is a little early to be picky about clothing but that girl has a mind of her own.

Price. When you have to buy as many clothes as I do, price is a factor. The price is right. They’re always priced well. You don’t have to worry about coupons or sales to get a good deal.  Plus, the kitty shirt pictured above is only $3.88. Pair them with this adorable set of French Terry Jogging pants, also Garanimals brand, for $4.88, and you’ve got a pretty cute play outfit for less than $10.

• Convenience. A lot of time my only time to shop is early morning or late at night. That’s why shopping at Walmart is convenient for me. Plus, now you can shop online with free 2-day shipping. You can’t beat that.  Ok, Ok.  So you can if you find free one-day shipping with Amazon Prime but I bet you’ll have a harder time finding this for cheaper than Walmart.com.

• Mix and Matchable.  Matchable may or may not be a real word but regardless, you parents know exactly what I mean.  Most of their stuff you can mix and match, as an added bonus, which is helpful when you want to just grab something quickly (or if they’ve decided they’re going to dress themselves).  They even have solid colors that can sometimes be really hard to find (which work great for embroidery and screen-printing if you’re crafty like that- I recommend washing them first though).

Cons:

• Walmart. Yes, I realize that I just said above that going to Walmart is convenient but sometimes it’s not. If you go at the wrong time, you’ll find it totally crowded and unorganized.  Some folks don’t like Walmart because their merchandise comes from other countries, etc. but…. I’m not going there since that’s a politically fueled can of worms that I don’t choose to open tonight.

• Cheesy prints. I also said above that the clothes are cute. And most are but there are a few I think aren’t so cute and some that are just downright tacky. This is really just a personal preference though. What I might think is adorable, you may think is an abomination.  This is play clothes, so does it really matter?!?

Bottom-line:  For our family, Garanimals baby and toddler clothes have been a great value.  I’ll continue to buy them.  In fact, I’m about to buy a few more sets of tights tonight for the girls because they got some adorable shirts for their birthday on Saturday that I need to pair something with.

Here’s a few of the outfits we’ve already got:

Happy shopping!