Now, I realize it doesn't matter at all how your kids are dressed in public. Wait, scratch that. It would still matter to me if say, your teenage daughter was wearing a slutty dress or something like that. But, as far as little kids dressing themselves, it doesn't matter one little bit. In fact, I think you're better off letting your kids dress like hobos when you go out in public because really, when the mom with the kids dressed to the nines walks by, what do you think? You don't think - Wow, she's got it all together! Look at her kids! They're in matching duds and they're all clean and shiny! Nope, admit it. You think - what an overachiever, as you snort to yourself (even if you're secretly wishing that just once you could run to the store without one of your kids forgetting their shoes, another one with a cup and a half of peanut butter smeared on their face, and yet another one dressed like a color-blind clown.)
Here's my stubborn Brooklyn in the red, white & blue shorts, teal tank top with metallic gold decorations and hot pink cowboy boots that are 2 sizes too big. Yeah, we got some strange looks as my little fashion plate clomped along in her big, pink boots, but you know what? It doesn't matter. She was happy, I didn't have to fight with her about getting dressed, and I didn't have to worry about anyone looking at me like I was an overachiever.
***** For those of you who asked if/why Brooklyn was mad, here's the scoop. We came to a stop light and I said, "Gee that's a great outfit, Sweetie! Can I take your picture?" Brooklyn, being the most stubborn child on the planet, looked the other way and refused to smile. As soon as the light turned green and I turned around to drive, she looked at me, smiled, and said, "You can take my picture now." *****
My daughter went through a year of wearing her black combat boots with everything. Church, frilly dresses, you name it. She'd stomp through WalMart with her pink shorts and flowered top and her black combat boots.
ReplyDeleteAfter that was the Dorothy red glitter slippers. We left red glitter everywhere for about 4 months.
But yes, I didn't have to fight her on it. And she always had shoes on!
We have the same boots, Dawn!! My two year old wears them all the time and they are 3 sizes too big. The only place I don't let her wear them is church. Life is too short to sweat the really small stuff.
ReplyDeleteOh she looks fine. That will probably be the style in California or NY next week! hehe
ReplyDeleteHer fingernail polish matches. She knows what's important.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has those exact same boots! And she wore them to Christmas, with her fancy white poofy dress. It was great.
ReplyDeleteomg - my daughter had those same boots a few years ago (well obviously not Brooklyn's boots, but some exactly like that). She wore them everywhere with everything.
ReplyDeleteAnd FWIW, I'm with you - I don't care what they where for now (mine are 10 & 6). As long as they're happy and there were no fights on getting dressed, I'm happy.
I'm probably worse than you - when I see a mom w/ cleaned up and matching kids I find myself thinking, "she probably doesn't spend much time w/ them; bet she has a full-time nanny." I'm so bad.
lol, if you didn't have to fight to get her dressed, then why does she still look upset? or is that just Brooklyn? lol LOVE the boots:)
ReplyDeleteI love it when the kids go out like that . It reminds me of a picture my mom has of me in a GREAT outfit. I try to start the fashion lessons once they start 1st grade,, when they are still somewhat listening to me :).
ReplyDeleteoh, i can SO relate!
ReplyDeleteLove The BOOTS! Was she angry or something??
ReplyDeleteI love it when my girls come out dressed and ready for the day, stripes with a multicolored flowered shirt and snow boots to top it off. Heck I did not have to dress them that day so I'm all for it. One less fight that day. And you know we all just want quiet as much as possible.
ReplyDeletegreat perspective. i wish i would have been more relaxed about this a few years ago... oh well...
ReplyDeleteWait 'til she gets to the tutu stage! I think her sisters can help here there! One of mine contined to wear them in high school. (Yeah, I know...you don't have to say it...)
ReplyDeleteYou and your readers are so right when it comes to sweating the small stuff. It just isn't worth the stress!
Great post and picture!
i feel you Dawn and totally agree. My dd 4 went through a phase where she wore her pink camo rubber boots every where. No matter what she was wearing. Can't sweat the small stuff.
ReplyDeleteShe didn't look half as bad as you described! I think she did pretty good. She'll have good fashion sense when she's older, I'd bet. Plus, at least you can get yours to brush her hair.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't care two cents about what my five year old was wearing (which is never weather friendly--ie., cold day = sun dress, or parka and snow boots in 80 degree weather) if she would at least brush her hair!
I can relate!!! Love the post!! She looks adorable anyway!
ReplyDeleteMy little brother is obsessed with gloves! LOL. He's 9 and ever since he was a baby he has loved gloves.
ReplyDeleteMy little sister is 4 and loves princess dress up clothes and wears them everywhere, including preschool.
I think her boots are fab:)
I have a budding fashionista as well... I have a picture of my daughter from two weeks ago when we were at Disneyland- she was wearing turquoise polka dot leggings, with lavender knee socks with gray kitties on them, pulled all the way up to her knees on the *outside* of her pants. Oh, and shiny pink and black tennis shoes.
ReplyDeleteThat outfit is tame, I tell you, tame, compared to what my little one used to wear. Even her big sister (only 2 year older) used to roll her eyes. She wore a pair of green and white shorts for years with everything and anything. I only made them change outfits for church. Sure made my life easier not to fight with her.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that you said "slutty dress". If I ever say that, I immeditely get pounded for being judgemental.
ReplyDeleteWhen Diva was younger, I always let her wear whatever would make her the happiest and get us out of the house the quickest. She looked like a white-trash hobo most days! But, we were all happy! That's what matters.
ReplyDeleteOh! Oh! I have one. I encountered a good friend of mine in the grocery store with her daughter in the cart. The daughter had on her head, as if a hairband, the hand-me-down (shredded) tutu I had passed on.
ReplyDeletehttp://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b37/daisyprincess98/Jess%20to%20SB/?action=view¤t=100_0494.jpg
ReplyDelete'nuff said :)
My four year old dressed herself to go out and eat with her daddy last night in a black and pink wool skirt, purple and teal butterfly shirt and brown uggs...she was so proud of herself...he was a little embarrassed, but hey I'm with you...it used to bother me now that there are two I just hope they both have on clothes and shoes...doesn't always happen!!!
ReplyDeleteThe longer you're a parent the more you realize that you've got to pick your battles. Mismatched clothing is one battle I choose not to fight.
ReplyDeleteOne morning my 3 year old decided she was going to wear her tinkerbell bathing suit to run errands, and did what any other good Mom would do...blogged about it.
ReplyDeleteMy motto is "As long as it's decent and relatively clean, I'm happy." Particularly with my little girls who do tend to argue about what they want to wear. They do come up with some interesting combinations.
ReplyDeleteBRooklyn sounds about as 3 as it gets :)
ReplyDeleteMy 4 year old is actually getting good at matching things now and I find myself missing a bit of the crazy outfit days. Thankfully she is still over accessorizing! So cute. I love seeing kids and what they come up with.
I have a whole facebook photo album of my son titled "When Children Dress Themselves..."
ReplyDeletethis week's favorite was the turquoise pirate shorty pajamas, white pantyhose, and ladybug rainboots. To go to the park.
OMG, she and Little Miss are exactly one and the same -- down to why she was mad. And the boots -- except ours vary between her brother's Elmo sandals that he's outgrown and she hasn't quite grown into and give her blisters and the blue cherry Wellies Santa brought her for Christmas this year that are ummm five(?) three(?) sizes too big. Oh, except that Brooklyn has gorgeous hair that's really growing and Little Miss... not so much. :)
ReplyDeleteLove the outfit.
ReplyDeleteRight now my daughter still lets me dress her so I put her in those coordinating outfits. But I know there will be a time when she wants to dress herself. My son is at that stage and when I try to lay out a cute outfit he's all, "I'm not wearing THAT!" as though I had laid out a dress or something. He once went out in sweat pants, a mismatched top and a cowboy hat.
*lol*, my 2 year old is sitting on my lap and just loves Brooklyn's outfit! The boots are really cool, you have to admit, *ggg*.
ReplyDeleteSo long,
Corinna
I think my own daughter has worn that same outfit! Good thing they didn't show up at the same red carpet event....what a cat fight that might have been!!! = ) I think it's cute when little ones dress themselves and the outfits aren't quite what we would have chosen. It gets tougher when they get older and are still trying to figure it out. I don't want to hurt my little fashionistas feelings but sometimes at 9 it's not so cute when they are wearing something outrageous.
ReplyDeleteI think she looks cute! When my son was younger, I stopped worrying what he wore out of the house when I realized it was actually helping to develop his creativity by picking out what to wear ... :)
ReplyDeleteMy 6 year old son started fighting with me about what he was going to wear before he was 2. I even tried letting him pick out his clothes, but he would just throw a fit. I'd laugh at him (which REALLY helped). Sunday mornings were a "blast". He does much better now. My 3 1/2 year old daughter prefers undies. JUST undies. So I lay out options and she finally picks something.
ReplyDeleteYou are on the MONEY about what we really think of those kids with the matching (AND CLEAN) outfits and their mothers! I used to want to be that mom when I couldn't afford it. Now that I can, I realize it isn't important. Those boots would be a major HIT at our house! This time of year, you'll see my 3 year old wearing his mud boots everywhere - with everything. Usually his 9 year old brother's shorts. Yeah, we just call him Gansta K and move on:)
ReplyDeleteWhen my son was 3 he insisted on wearing his superman cape to the grocery store. We got a lot of smiles from the other shoppers :-)
ReplyDeleteMy daughter came up with some good ones. When she was that age, we had 'Mommy pick days' and 'Caroline pick days'. She got used to the concept so that she accepted it when I did pick. The goal wasn't to have her look perfect, it was to submit to her mother. That eliminated the battles when I did need to pick. She is 14 now. She obviously gets to pick all the time, but she accepts that I have veto power. I hardly ever have to use it.
ReplyDeleteI have gone through this. My 16 year old when he was 4 he was a firefighter everyday he wore snow boots and snowpants everywhere even if it was 90 outside. Then when he was 5 he was a life guard. He had a teen friend who was a lifeguard at local pool and ryan was invited to his birthday party he gave him a sweatshit he had made for him to look like a lifeguard sweatshirt, I had to wash it everyday so it was would be clean the next day he wore that and a whistle. Now I have one who is almost 5 and he wears a spiderman Halloween costume everyday. I have gotten smarter and he has 3 costumes although he prefers the one that has muscles. He wears it everywhere even to the grocery store which upsets my husband to no end. I keep teling him at least he isnt 18 and going to school dressed as spidey. we had his birthday party last Saturday and he wore it. Who cares he was happy
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I think her outfit looks way trendier than any Gymboree ensemble (not that we don't own our fair share of those!)
ReplyDeleteWe have had some interesting outfits with our three year old DD, but my favorite was the time she wanted to wear her fairy dress on our "date" If you wanna check it out I have pictures here:
http://theparketour.blogspot.com/2009/01/mommy-me-date.html
LOL, I think that outfit is pretty conservative compared to what my daughters have come up with. And every kid loves cowboy boots! As they get older mine are getting better at color coordination and are in a dress phase now anyway, so I'm not doing as much cringing when they come out after dressing. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's funny, my son wore swimming googles to church. Now there's a place that you want to look all put together!! We got quite a few laughs from it!!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how grown up your baby looks! Where does the time go?!?
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record... I would totally wear those boots! I don't suppose they come in a size that would accomodate both my age *and* my bunion?!? Sigh... didn't think so.
OMG - I am so glad I am not the only mom who doesn't care what her kids wear, as long as they are dressed and the important parts are covered up!! IMHO, if they dress themselves, that is one less battle I have to fight!
ReplyDeleteOf course, now I have a 14 year old daughter and that's an entirely different story!
My 12 year old son left the house the other day in unmatching camo shorts and tshirt-2 totally different colors, flip flops and his hair in serious need of a brushing. While walking into the library, I realized how he was dressed and was like, dude, you are 12-you cannot say your mommy dressed you like this. He laughed, but I wasn't really laughing! Moral of the story-you are so right. you gotta pick your battles and so long as the clothes are cleanish, it is all good!
ReplyDeletereally not so bad. My girls wear their princess and bride costumes almost everywhere they go. I'm with you though, other than church where I have veto right, they pretty much pick out all of their clothes. As long as it's reasonably weather appropriate and doesn't show too much skin, I don't care what they wear.
ReplyDeleteI am so with you on this one. I gave up on going out in public with my kids looking normal a very long time ago. It was either that, or never go anywhere. Who knows? If they're dressed like hobos, maybe someone will give us a handout.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest girl (4) is a clothes fiend. It doesnt matter if its 10 sizes too big, if it's cute to her she is going to wear it! And as a mom preg with her 6th I must ask how does 6 compare to 5?
ReplyDeleteMy daughter started dressing herself when she was 2 or 3. She'd often wear her Cinderella costume, or plaid with stripes.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter. She's 15 and has figured out how to put together outfits that match.
I agree, don't sweat the small stuff.
I have an almost 4 year old nephew that wont leave home without his bright pink ballerina costume and fairy wand!! I did mention it was my nephew right? Not that there is anything wrong with that....
ReplyDeleteYou are a brave soul, Dawn. I like Brooklyn's independent attitude, the aloof way she stares out the window indifferent to your pleading with the camera. But I don't know how you kept from saying something sarcastic when she smiled and asked you to take her picture as you passed under the now-green light. Maybe that's why I was always a better Mom when I had larynigitis.
ReplyDeleteI've only got 2 kids and I'll let them wear just about anything.
ReplyDeletelove those boots! :)
ReplyDelete