From Tami: Children’s Fashion

My kids had a bunch of fashion phases. We had tutus everywhere, for what seemed like forever (boys and girls). We had tap-shoes, which my daughter was sure were fancier than regular dress-shoes because of the sound. (I would like to take a moment to point out that not a single one of our kids ever actually took tap dancing lessons. I literally bought them because she thought they were fabulous.) We had a period where one boy only wore things emblazoned with Winnie-the-Pooh characters. We had plenty of princess dresses (Belle and Jasmine, mainly, to tell you how old my girls are—no Elsa here!), and we had a lot of winter-boots-with-diapers in the summer. One son found a ridiculous round bowl of a hat—a cross between a derby and a fez—which he wore for months, and adult friends of ours used to joke that he could turn it upside down whenever he needed a bowl. It was that bad. And lest you think that these outfits were all in the privacy of our own home, think again. These were worn everywhere—on errands, to school, in formal settings, and in muddy parks.

I actually had a bit of a reputation in my social circles. People looked forward to seeing what I would let my kids wear around town.

My eldest daughter loved strutting around in bathing suits. She loved bathing suits so much that one was simply not enough. She would take all of the bathing suits out of her drawer and put them all on at once. When it was time to actually get dressed, however, she would refuse to take them off. I was confronted with a dilemma—do I fight a determined toddler, or do I put her clothes on over three bathing suits? She was still in diapers, so I’m sure you can imagine how difficult diaper changes were. First, the clothes came off. Then, three layers of one-piece bathing suits. I changed the diaper, and then the bathing suits had to go back on. All of them. And then, finally, her clothes were back on and she was back to playing. Some people must have thought I was crazy for allowing it, but I really felt that it was good for her to feel in control of her fashion choices. Plus, I didn’t have the energy to pick that battle.

(Which are also the reasons that I let her run around nude a lot. I confess that a bunch my kids were serious nudists at heart, and I allowed them to express that even if it made me look nuts. Naked two-year-olds in January are very confusing for childless house-guests. I’m happy to report that they all wear clothes now.)

Another daughter was a serious fashionista. As a toddler, she wore lots of jewelry (mostly Mardi Gras style beaded necklaces), long dresses (usually fancy nightgowns), and high-heeled shoes (mine, of course). I used to drop her off at preschool with her sneakers in a bag, escorting my two-year-old princess as she carefully shuffled into class with the entirety of her baby feet swallowed by the toes of my shoes. Her teacher loved it!