How do you dress your kids? - Page 7

[Heffernhyphen]

Originally Posted by my~hearts~light

I hate to say it but I do hate to see dirty kids. It's sad to me because I know how society views kids like that. And they can't do a thing to change their appearnace or families financial situation.

: Society needs to mind its own business. Ugh. This kind of ignorant judgement just flies all over me. Just because a kid is dirty on any given day tells you NOTHING about that kid, his family, or his financial situation.

I babysit for a 3 year old and his 20 month old brother (whose parents both enjoy very comfortable jobs at the top of the corporate ladder). Every morning I take them and my 2 year old to some out-of-the-house activity: library, Museum of Discovery, zoo, park, etc. I get to their house at 8:30, we have breakfast, then I mash a wash cloth over a few select body parts, try to find three pairs of shoes and socks that fit, change diapers, fill three sippy cups and a mug of coffee, grab some snacks, keys, oh yeah, and the kids. Naturally by this time someone has kicked off a shoe, lost a sippy cup and filled a diaper. It's a small miracle that we all make it anywhere, let alone make it there looking good.

[mystic~mama]

Originally Posted by trinity6232000

That's the Spirit!

((ragamuffins))

[LunaMom]

My DD isn't a fashion plate by any means, but she usually looks clean and neat at the start of the day. I can't control what happens over the course of the day, though, and if she comes home with messy hair and paint on her clothes, I'm not going to make her change before we go to the library or the grocery store or whatever.

I don't pass any judgment on people I see with "dirty" kids. They could have just come from a fabulous nature hike or something!

[mystic~mama]

I have never heard the term "fashion plate" before this thread

[babybugmama]

There's good dirty and then there's not so good dirty. Good dirty is cherry juice all around the mouth, dirt on the knees and elbows. Not so good is green yucky boogers hanging down the nose into the mouth, caked dirt that is obviously days old...KWIM?

That said...I don't have a lot of control over dd's attire...I do...but she makes the choices for the most part (unless special occasion, etc). I do lay out options for her to choose from, so I guess to that degree I control it. But she dictates I want to wear a dress or I want to wear shorts...then I lay out options for that (otherwise I'd never get out of the house! :LOL)

Now...have to go back and read all the previous pages..only read this one...so I apologize if my posting is off-topic...

[Ravin]

I put DD in a pair of shorts and a T shirt that don't horribly clash with each other. She has 1 pair of shoes, which she insists on wearing out the door whether needed or not. She also chooses a hat for herself in the morning, which she likewise insists upon (which is fine w/ me in the summer sun w/ her wispy blonde excuse for hair).

She's started bringing a pair of shorts to me some mornings, in which case I pick out a shirt to go with. I was putting her in dresses a lot until the sitter complained about her taking off her diaper!

So, I figure we're just a few months shy of her picking her own clothes. I'm pretty laid back about it.

She still doesn't have enough hair to do anything with. I am a bit compulsive about washing her face, especially in public, but don't worry too much about what she gets on her shirt--I save the change of clothes for when she dribbles a cup of icewater down her front or truly MESSY messes. A little sauce on her shirt or something is no biggie. Her DCP is way more fussy about that, and will change her clothes after lunch for the slightest things! I do usually put her in a clean shirt when we're headed out the door, though, and tend to feed her at home with no shirt at all.

[LauraN]

Originally Posted by nancy926

On the other hand, while we were out Sunday we saw a family of 4 (mom, dad, daughter, son) all dressed alike in red, white and blue. That kind of freaked me out, I admit.

Give them the benefit of the doubt!!! We once went out to lunch all dressed in denim and white. The reason? We had just had a studio portrait done (you know the kind where you all have to wear similar colors). Under any other circumstance we would never be able to coordinate all our outfits even if we tried!

I've always delighted in choosing little outfits for my babies, but as they get older, they will be allowed to choose their own clothes. My son is already getting there--he has definite opinions about which shirt he wants to wear and which shorts are comfortable. So he picks most days unless he wants me to.

My mom tells how horrified she always was by the outfits my sister picked out when she was three, but b/c she was allowed to do it, my sister now has a beautiful, original but very sharp sense of style.

[Sharlla]

Wes wears whatever he wants which typically means a yu-gi-oh shirt (he has 6 of them) and shorts. The baby wears onsies at home and when we go out little short/tank one peices. I shop at thrift stores but I always buy name brand shoes (Vans)

[duckat]

We have a lot of hand me downs, then I hit the outlets to fill in. I try really hard to have neutral bottoms (jeans, khaki, olive) so that it doesn't matter what shirt I grab (works the same way for dressing myself )
DS is starting to enjoy making decisions, so each morning I offer him 2 pair of shorts and 2 shirts, and he chooses. He can't handle choosing from a full drawer yet.
His hair is almost never brushed, but it's wavy so it doesn't really matter.
I think he looks quite cute most of the time in stripey shirts, shorts and sandals going out or a dipe and t-shirt around the house.

[LauraN]

Originally Posted by Heffernhyphen

: Society needs to mind its own business. Ugh. This kind of ignorant judgement just flies all over me. Just because a kid is dirty on any given day tells you NOTHING about that kid, his family, or his financial situation.

I couldn't agree more! I'm much less inclined to feel sad for someone who's kids are dirty or mismatched but are clearly having fun than someone who is smacking their kids around, yelling at them to shut up or humiliating them in some way.