Our granddaughter, Emily, has been “fashion” conscious just about since she was born. She couldn’t have been more than six months old when she began to pick out her own diaper. When we kept her, she would throw a fit if Claire picked up a Cookie Monster diaper and she wanted a Mickey Mouse one. To this day she pretty much picks out her own clothes every day.
She has definite ideas and knows what she likes. I’m sure her mom and probably her teachers cringe some days when her wardrobe is especially outlandish. I’m not one to give advice, and this isn’t advice, just an opinion — but I think letting her make her own choices is good. Within the boundaries of cost and age-appropriateness, I think Emily should be able to dress as she pleases.
The fact is, when raising kids, a lot of the messages we give to them involve “don’t,” “no,” or “stop.” There’s going to be enough of these messages in Emily’s life — I think saying yes to fashion choices is nice.
There’s going to be a lot of years of disagreements and arguments now that Emily is school age. Some arguments are worth having, and other issues are worth letting slide. Choose your battles — this is probably never truer than when we become parents. Anyone who is one knows you have to choose your battles a lot — on issues you can’t even imagine. If the issue or confrontation involves safety, it’s non-negotiable — the rest is just another lesson in patience….
— 30 —