Little Wife On the Prairie





When you are everything to everyone, well, you had better act like you have it all together.



Monday, January 10, 2011

I'm back and I'm done!

I feel refreshed and renewed after my short blogger break.  Though I was not posting, I was very busy.  I compiled my blog book and sent it to print last night!  Whew.  That was rough.  I am not a detail person so having to move this here and move that there, is a bit torturous.  But it is done and I am happy! 

So now I'm back to writing.  I have thought of a million things to write about during my time off.  Now I can't really remember what they were.  Shocking. 

So this morning, when my daughter came out of her room dressed in something crazy, I knew I had my topic for the day.  Where do you draw the line with your child's fashion choices? 

Admittedly, I am a fashion idiot.  I have no natural ability to put an outfit together.  But I do like to look cute!  Unfortunately, my daily look is more bag-lady than fashionista.  It is my station in life right now.  Diapers, dishes, laundry and cooking.  It is not a high-fashion situation.  Heck, I'm lucky to get out of my robe on some days.  Let me rephrase, I am lucky to get to stay in my robe most days but on some days I have to actually put on clothes. 

Question: Have you ever changed out of jeans and a t-shirt to "more comfortable clothes", like sweatpants?  Just wondering if I am the only one who's dress attire consists of old ratty jeans and my husbands discarded work t-shirts. 

Back to my daughter.  She has always enjoyed dressing up.  When she was just under 2, we put a little mirror down on her level so that she could see herself.  She would create an "outfit" of aprons, big gold chains and mom's shoes and stand in front of her mirror admiring her creation.  It's starts early people. 

A few years later, both grandmas got her a boxes of dress-up clothes.  She was in little-girl heaven!  She never wore regular clothes.  It was always a princess dress or a ladybug costume, with or without the bridal veil.  She was very amusing. 

Today, she came out of her room dressed in typical Jolie style.  A long-sleeved green shirt with a crazy rock-n-roll print, a ruffled skirt with grey cotton leggings underneath, and long red socks pulled up over the leggings.  I questioned her about her choice in sock placement.  "I like it that way." was the only response I got. 

Now the socially appropriate mom in me wanted to make her change.  I started pictureing her teachers shaking their heads, wondering what kind of mom sends her kid to school dressed that way. 

But I let her go.  As I have one hundred times before.  As I was driving home from dropping the kids off at school, I reflected on my feelings about her choice in clothes.  Of course I want my child to make good choices.  And at this time in her life, I am here to guide her choices.

 But my greatest hope for my daughter is that she would be confident in the person that God created her to be.  Part of that confidence is in her sense of style!  I would never want her to forgo her own sense of what is right for her, to conform to what is right for everyone else.  That applies to everything in her life.  I want her to be comfortable being different.  I want her to love who she is, not for her perceived perfection, but for the perfection of her idiosyncracies.

If one day she decides that she wants to dress just like her friends, that will be fine.  (As long as those clothes don't include fishnets and bustiers.)  I just want it to be her choice.  But I have to admit, I might be a little sad about it.  I love to see her quirky little personality come out in her clothes!  I just pray that, no matter what she wears, that she would keep her individual spirit. 

Oh God that you would spur her to be set apart for you.  No matter what that looks like.  Bless her today.   

Now it's your turn.  Tell me your kid struggle.  Does your boy want to eat only mac n' cheese?  Does your girl all of a sudden refuse to carry the backpack she has had all year?  Or is it something more serious that you are dealing with?  We all have some concerns for our children.  Share with us. 

   

4 comments:

Carrie said...

Glad you're back!

W's taste runs similar to Jolie's, it sounds...except for the fact that he has two hats, his shirt inside out and backwards, flip-flops, blue lensless glasses and a super-hero cape. Here's to individuality! Granted, he's become pickier in his eating. Ugh. There are meals where I have to tell him, "This is what we're having. If you are hungry, this is what you'll eat." Sometimes he chooses to and sometimes he doesn't. I feel like such a mean mommy, but I don't want to foster pickiness. I want to foster contentedness with what we have and a grateful spirit. With a nearly 3 year old and nearly 1.5 year old and one on the way, we're just starting out. Lord give us wisdom and strength and discernment and lots of grace! :-)

Love you!

molly said...

My middle boy is the one who doesn't see WHY he has to take a bath! :) My oldest was given a bath MORNING AND NIGHT as a baby and toddler...then I eased up and went to once daily. My middle has this unique little independent spirit that I just can't squash (although I DO make him take a bath every OTHER day!). He also prefers to only wear ONE sock around the house. As soon as we get home from being out, he takes off his boots and ONE sock...it cracks us up! But we are like you...GOD created this little being...quirks and all...and we're not gonna mess with God's plan for his life as long he what he's doing isn't illegal or unsanitary! LOL!

Grandmolly said...

I think that outfit sounded cute! HAHAHA!

jeana said...

Brighton wears hats...backwards...to church. We let him. He is growing out of and that makes me a little sad, so I'm glad we let him. Tibby wore red socks with his yellow soccer uniform all last year. On picture day the moms questioned if he snuck out of the house like that...we just said, it's what makes this time in his life special. I love that you let her go on to school that way. it shows you're moved by love, and not what others think. She'll learn that from you. xoxo