What They Wore

Do you ever read fashion blogs? You know the ones. An adorable girl puts together a series of adorable outfits and takes pictures of what she wears everyday. It is an endless line of colorful tights, peter pan collars, and sky high platform shoes. The posts usually have a title like "What I Wore" and then they will list where they found everything and how much it costs. These blogs are not ones I regularly read, but I do occasionally peek. It's my little guilty pleasure. I live vicariously through them. If I took a picture of what I wore it would be an endless line of colorful aprons and fuzzy slippers. I may be in kind of a rut.

My kids are a totally different story. A mom and fellow blogger asked a question on facebook a couple of weeks ago. She asked, "Do you pick out your kids clothes, or do you let them dress themselves?"

I enjoyed reading all the answers and they were all very different. Some moms picked out every last detail. Some moms gave their children a choice between two outfits. Some moms let the child pick out the top and then they would find bottoms to match.

When it comes to what my children wear, I am pretty much as laid back as a mom could be. My children are free to pick out what they want for the most part and I have witnessed some very creative outfits. I have included, for your viewing pleasure, some of the more creative things my kids have put together. And for the record, yes, they do go out in public like this.(well, maybe not topless!)

My rules are:
1. No sweat pants with words across the butt. They are tacky on grown ups and tackier on children.
2. Pantyhose are not pants. You have to wear something OVER them.
3. Tennis shoes must be worn at the park. How else can you run and jump and play?
4. Nothing overly sexualized. This mainly applies to my 12 year old although, I am amazed at the things that clothing companies seem to think are appropriate for little girls.
5. Mommy gets to pick out clothes on family picture days and at Easter. Mommy also gets to do hair on these days too. Other than that, it is pretty much up to them.

All of their clothes are where they can get to them. All of their hair clips and bows are where they can reach. They get to choose socks, shoes, hats, etc. and I don't really care if anything matches. There is just so much more in life that is worth worrying about. I'm not going to waste the calories fussing about clothes.

What are your rules on clothes? How do you avoid power struggles? Do your children care if you pick out clothes or would they rather make their own fashion statements? Leave a comment. There are no judgments here!

Baby Play Friday

 

It's Baby Play Friday folks! It's that time of the week that we focus on activities, articles, tips and advice for babies and toddlers. Last week we began our first Baby Play Friday linky. If you haven't done so yet, please check out these wonderful activities which were linked up last week.

Raising the Cameron Clan shared a week's worth of activities for her little one.

Gratefully Growing in Grace shared ideas for recycling those old pool noodles from last summer.

Lessons Learnt Journal shared a collage activity she did with her toddler using contact paper.

Happy Little Munchkins took an activity she was setting out for her older daughter, and adapted it for her 6 month old baby. Great Idea!

If  you are looking for ideas for your baby or toddler please check out these terrific blogs.

Here is what we were up to this week. We took two ideas and combined them into one very cool art project.

First I found an old shoebox and cut a hole in the front that would be large enough for bug to slip his hand in to. Then I cut slips of paper that were the same size as the box.

I squirted some paint on to the paper and put the lid back on. I let Bug reach inside the box and feel around and mush and squish. He had such a funny look on his face the whole time, as if he were thinking, "What in the world did this woman leave in this box?"

So there you have it. It's a sensory box! No, It's finger painting! No, It's a sensory finger painting box!

If you have been doing something fun with your baby or toddler or if you have written a post that you think parents of babies or toddlers would like to read (like how to make your own baby food, or potty training tips) then I would like to invite you to link up!










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