You can dress an infant in whatever sleeper you want, and they won’t say a word about it. You can pick out all of your baby’s clothes, and usually, even as they get a little bit older, with a smidge of creativity, you can convince them that your way really is the best way.
But it’s hard to do that with a three year old. And it’s nearly impossible to do that with a six year old.
But then, something changed. All of a sudden, my daughter decided that she hated jeans. Or that everything she wore had to be the same colour. Or different colours. Or that those pants could only be worn with that shirt. Or she refused to wear pants at all, despite my insistence t
She wore her Christmas dress to kindergarten and a sundress to Christmas dinner. She would only wear pink. She hated pink.
It’s kind of amusing to watch your kids leave the house looking like clowns, but sometimes their sense of judgement is simply too
My husband says that it is important to empower our children to make their own choices and to understand what living with the consequences of those choices mean. But I have seen the outfits my husband has chosen for our kids to wear. He is the runner-up clown outfitte
Still, I understand his point, so unless they are wearing shorts in a snowstorm, I will try to bite my tongue. Hopefully, we are allowing them the freedom to grow into individualistic and confident young women. And not prepping them for a life under the big-top.
Do you have wardrobe fights with your kids? How do you come to a compromise?
I generally chose not to fight with them about what they wear unless it’s not weather appropriate. Luckily the older one is pretty practical (ie. will not wear dresses without leggings because she doesn’t want people to see her underwear when she climbs in the playground.) and the younger one doesn’t care as long as it’s pink.
(I think you may have an editing issue with whatever program you’re writing in – the weird cuts made this pretty jarring to read…)
Jessica´s last [type] ..Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!
“choose” rather – speaking of editing. :P
Jessica´s last [type] ..Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!
I don’t argue with the kids over clothing, either. Last night I took my daughter to Sparks with my 21-month-old son dressed in his sister’s kilt, an oversized yellow t-shirt (with ZOO CAMP! written on it), and a pair of plastic dress-up heels.
Conversely, I allow my daughter (5) to run around the house in just underwear most days because I cannot be bothered to argue with her about why she “should” wear clothing.
Man, sometimes a good ole pillage sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon.
Ummm, I bought that dress and head scarf for my niece, that she’s wearing in the picture…
We just go with insisting on what level of warmth she must attain, and she can choose the route to get there. Though in some cases when I know it’s going to reflect on me, like for the big in-law family do next weekend, I’ll give her a handful of choices and let her pick. That has hit-or-miss success, sometimes devolving into complex negotiations, but usually, it’s okay. The problem is that right now, she’s not into dresses, and for these things, mostly, fancy = dresses. And somehow, we moms still have hair.
Maybe it’s because my son doesn’t pick his own clothes yet but I just don’t see the point in stressing over what kids wear at all. Assuming they are age-appropriate (read: not slutty), why not? It isn’t like kids go to job interviews.
Janine @ Alternative Housewife´s last [type] ..Sebastian’s 1st Birthday Party
I have a terrible sense of fashion, so I don’t expect my child to do any better! I figure as long as she wears season-appropriate and age-appropriate clothing, she can choose whatever she wants. We’ll probably have to institute a rule about picking out clothes ahead of time to avoid spending too much time in the closet, though.
Heather Tovey´s last [type] ..Wine Pressing as a Family
I was just noticing how much more fun I’m having dressing the baby this third time around. It’s because you’re right — I haven’t been able to have the final say on what anyone’s wearing for a long time. My nearly-three-year old has been insisting on picking out her own clothes for about a year already and today squeezed herself into an 18-month-sized dress for Thanksgiving dinner that barely covered her (tights-clad) bum. Whatever. As long as what they wear is weather appropriate it’s not worth fighting over.
Rebecca´s last [type] ..Milestones
Just happened upon this article and it is hilarious! It reminds me of the time my sister and I went to have lunch with her daughter at her elementary school. My sister works nights and she was in a coma when her 8 year old got ready for school and her husband put the kids on the bus. My mouth dropped to the floor when I saw my neice walking towards us through the cafeteria. She was wearing a pale/puke green capri and tank top outfit (it was november) with metallic blue platform sandals and seven, yes, seven ponytails held up with bright pink scrunchies. My neice is almost 13 now and she still has not lived that down.