If you received hand-me-downs as a child, how did they make you feel?

Yes, a good portion of what I wore as a kid were hand me downs from both my sister and my aunt (who was only a couple years older than my sister). As a young kid, I guess you don’t really think about wearing hand me downs in a deeper meaning, like “does this mean I’m not as important or special as my sister?”. That’s really something you only think about when you’re older. But I do distinctively remember a lot of things being too tight on me. I was always big for my age. I was tall and a bit chubby. I remember having to really squash into some clothes and wearing things like jackets that couldn’t even be snapped shut. I remember wearing pants that couldn’t be buttoned. I also remember my mom stitching my name on a couple of items to make me feel like they were mine (even though they were passed down at least once, if not twice). I liked having my name on my jacket, but it still didn’t make it fit.

When I look at old photo albums now, I see how short my long pants were and how tight some shirts and stuff were. So as an adult, it does kind of make me mad, like didn’t my parents realize these items didn’t fit me? It’s one thing to wear a hand me down that fits, but to make your kid squash into a jacket that can’t even be snapped up, that’s kind of a bit much. I know they were just trying to save money, but in some ways, it does kind of make me feel like “why didn’t they think I deserved a coat that I could close?”