When to Spend and When to Save on Kids Clothings

You all, I wish I was in a super crazy good happy mood and could write some lovely upbeat posts that are at least a little inspiring, but I'm just not there at this moment in time.  Maybe it's because the big 3-0 birthday is quickly approaching but hopefully I'll be in a better mood here shortly.  Until then, here's my rant!

My parents were at our house for dinner on Sunday when out of the blew my mom said she couldn't believe I spent that much on AJ's winter coat.  I looked at her puzzled like huh?  Where did that come from and why do you care?  Then it just followed with a discussion that was a "tit for tat" discussion as my husband would say.  I'm just going to put it out there that I paid $135 for AJ's coat at REI.  Dylan inherited AJ's hand me down North Face from last year that was still in great condition.  Last year I bought 2 coats, 2 pairs of snow pants, 2 pairs of boots, 2 pairs of gloves, and 2 winter hats.  This year Dylan inherited all his brothers things, gloves still fit AJ, neighbor gave us a pair of boots that were like brand new and then I did buy him a new winter hat.  So I felt this year was a relief because I had to buy so much less than last year.  When I went to get AJ's coat, I by  no means thought it was a super awesome price BUT....I only had to buy one coat that I know once again will be inherited by Dylan so I was willing to spend what I did.  Also, by October, my kids will wear their winter coats every day until April.  It's cold here and that's just what we do. 

My thoughts on kids clothes and accessories is that if it's something like a winter coat that will be worn for 6 straight months, then it's fine to spend more money on it.  Say I bought him a $20 shirt (rarely happens) that he wears 5-10 times versus a coat I spend $135 and he wears 180 times, how was the $20 shirt any better than the coat?  Plus, it's likely that shirt will be so heavily stained that it has about a 50/50 chance of being passed down to Dylan.

I'm not sure why this bothered me SOOO much but all I kept thinking in my head for the last 24 hour was 'thanks mom for telling me I did another thing wrong.' 

My tit-for-tat back to her was why is it acceptable then to go out to eat and spend $40-50 which lasts for an hour and is about 4-5 times what I'd spend on making dinner at home versus paying for a coat that is equal to about 3 meals at restaurant and will last through 2 winters between my two kids?  And unfortunately I should have just not even entertained the conversation and just let it be at her comment but I added in that I feel that eating out and going to watch movies or buying DVD's are the ultimate in frivolous spending.  I used those examples because that's what she chooses to do with her money yet buys clothes at Wal-mart where as I buy clothes from Gap and Banana Republic but cook at home 95% of the time. 

I hate "Mommy Guilt."  You know where someone tries to make you feel bad about decisions you make for your kids.  Whether it's things you buy them, how much time you spend with them, how long you breastfed, what you feed them, etc. that there always seems to be someone that questions what you do with YOUR kids.   I even said to my mom that technically I could buy all my kids clothing from Goodwill and there's no reason really to ever buy new, but that I choose to spend the money I earn on certain things and sometimes that includes expensive coats or shopping sprees at Gymboree or Gap and I've never justified it as a "need" for my kids, but a want.  I mean to each their own, there's no reason for anyone to judge other people's finances and how they choose to spend their money right?  Does your family comment on how you choose to spend your money?