My boys have gone through so many dress-up phases. They’ve been train conductors, super heroes, soldiers, and who knows what else. One of them went through a phase where he didn’t take off his super hero cape, that I made him for almost a week. Recently, I saw pictures of Suri Cruise wearing lipstick, bright red lipstick. I’ve seen other celebrity kids out and about in full dress-up clothes.
Kati Holmes said she battles with Suri about clothes and that that sometimes it just isn’t worth the fight.
I agree with her, picking your battles is important and when it comes to clothes, that’s not a battle I want to fight. However, I’ve heard other moms swear they won’t let their kids dress themselves. They would never let them out of the house in dress-up clothes. I sometimes wonder what they think when they see my son coming with a collared shirt and sweat pants. He dresses himself and I’m proud of him. He picks out his own clothes and gets dressed on his own. To me, that is a great thing.
I worry more about what kind of damage I’d be doing to his independent spirit if I told him his outfits were all wrong or not right. I’m sure he’ll have to deal with snotty kids in the future who have something to say about his choice of clothes, but for today he can wear what he wants.
What about you? Do you let your kids pick their own clothes? Do they get to wear dress-up clothes on regular, everyday outings?
