She almost left the house this way. When she emerged from her room early the other morning, my daughter was wearing the brightest knee highs I ever did see. The knee highs brought out the brightness of the Hawaiian print shirt too. That combined with the "a couple of sizes too small shorts" and worn out black shoes (buckle is broken on the side) were quite a shocker for me. Several thoughts ran through my mind within a 3 second period...
WOW! She's bright!
Who bought those socks for her?
I thought I donated that Hawaiian print shirt to a clothes drive.
How did she find her favorite shorts that I threw out awhile ago?
How do they still fit?
Should I make her change?
Should I encourage her independence and individuality?
Why doesn't she wear the clothes I make her?
What am I going to cook for dinner tonight?
As I said before, she almost left the house this way. I told her she needed to change her shorts because they were too small. So she did and emerged with a jean skirt instead. And off went my little Punky Brewter to school.
Up until this point, I have always thought of myself as a mom who encouraged her kids to be unique and to express their individuality, but now I question that. I had to fight myself from making her change everything. I tried to justify it by thinking to myself that possibly the brightness could cause another child to have seizures and I was only concerned for the safety of others. But the reality was that I was worried about other kids making fun of her at school. Yet, when she came home from school I asked her if anyone mentioned her socks and she looked down at her feet as if she had forgotten she was wearing them and said, "no."
Hmmm! What do I know?
Jamie
8 comments:
Great post! That is such a challenge. I too have girls (twins age 9) who like to push the fashion envelope from time to time (and example: rain boots, jean shorts, and a long, adult size chunky scarf). And I too vary between allowing nature to take it's course, so to speak, and making some gently worded suggestions. What I really love is that at this point, they mostly care about my opinion and consider what I say! I figure the time for that is running out!
I think she looks great! Complete individuality... not obnoxiously so. Encourage children to be who they are.
Di
The Blue Ridge Gal
that's great! i know as a mom it is so hard sometimes to keep my mouth shut. i shudder when my 6 year old says he wants to fix his own hair for school...I know that means he'll end up with a mohawk or with it combed straight down over his forehead.
I bet all your daughters classmates will be wearing bright socks and tight shorts to school tomorrow! :)
cheers~
I think she looked great. Only a few people can pull off a bold looks, and you have a very confident young lady who would have worked it. I think your little munchkin is a future trend setter.
Cute :) I do love the pink socks but I have a bit of a punk streak in me that loves to come out on occasion. Love that you captured this memory to share and that it wasn't overlooked!
Good post. My daughter went through a black stage in late middle school. Only black. It was actually kind of empowering because I could get her attention by threatening to destroy all the black and replace it with pink! She eventually outgrew it when she put some plastic-y pants in the dryer on high. Then, we had the dryer fire. The clothes, not the dryer. But, at least, we got rid of the black!
I'm glad I'm not alone in this uncharted area for me. Thanks for sharing everyone =)
Oh Jamie, I'm so glad I just found your blog and read this post. Our daughters must have been separated at birth. I could have written this post... every single word! Isn't it funny? I feel the same way. I have to fight myself to keep from squashing her sweet spunky little spirit that doesn't really care what other people think. But sometimes her outfits... oh my. Would love for you to stop by my blog.
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