My 3 year old is at the age of “independence.” She debates what she wants to and doesn’t want to wear. Some days I have to catch myself when I get ancy, in a rush and easily flustered when outfits don’t go as planned. (One morning she screamed bloody murder, because of her disgust for her pants.) I used to care so much about how my kids were presented in public, in fear of being judged.
Being a young mom of many littles, I always felt we needed to look put together in order to be viewed as having it together. It never occurred to me, at that time, I was putting an unrealistic amount of power in strangers hands. Those whom may or may not even care how the kids look.
My daughter is the happiest in anything pink. When I say anything, I mean Anything. You could literally wrap her up in pink tulle from head to toe, and she would never complain. It took me a while to realize, just how easy it is, and less stressful it is, to just “roll with the punches.”
There have been days when she wears what I pick out, which is fine. But there are also many days when we leave the house with her in a tutu, and barefoot, and that’s fine too. 🙂 I think we need to get back to what’s important. We have to shift our focus from what’s going on around us, and focus on the littles inside our homes, and their freedom of expression. We have to get back to allowing children’s imaginations to run wild and allowing them to get dirty, because it’s OKAY for kids to get dirty. {Just make sure you clean them after 😉 }
Amazing things happen when we unplug ourselves. During lent, I gave up social media. The kids, unwillingly at first, had a significant decrease in tv time and tablet use. Even now, the kids haven’t had their tablets in over a week. We’ve been making it a priority, to face each other and get out and get dirty, and it has been amazing. Let them be little. Because the truth is, one day they will grow up and you’re never going to get a do over.
Motherhood, uncensored. 