Children love to play dress up
We teach our children by example. We model polite behavior so they can learn how to conduct themselves in different social settings. We instruct them on which fork to use during a meal. We help them write thank you cards after birthday celebrations so why is it that when it comes to fashion tips and individual style we leave them flying in the breeze?
If part of growing up involves learning to develop a sense of appropriate and inappropriate behavior then doesn’t that include what our children wear? As parents, don’t we have a duty to help our daughters express their personality in ways that are appropriate for their age? Understandably, there is a lot of trial and error with fashion tips that goes on at this age and at some point there will be a complete rebellion. It’s only through this rebellion that our children will stretch the boundaries and discover who they really are. As mothers we need to provide our girls with a strong foundation that they can rebel against, but more importantly use as a point of reference. Making the transition from child to woman is a process best done in little steps over the years. We need to have discussions with our daughters about who they are, who they are not and who they want to be. We can call them fashion tips but basically we need to teach our daughters how to dress for different social occasions. We need to be involved in the selection of their outfits.
Lastly we need to be able to say no. There is nothing worse than seeing a child dressed in clothing best suited for an adult. Of course, our daughters will disagree with some of our choices, they will roll their eyes, they will be sullen, they will try to sneak an outfit out of the house to change into at their friend’s place, and the list goes on.
Teaching our children to dress appropriately is part of good manners. What do you think?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Very well stated. Thank you for sharing…
I would have to agree with what the Chief Princess is saying. As the mother of a 22 year old daughter, I must say that my “constant nagging” (as my daughter would say while she was growing up), has come back to aid her now that she is a young woman. She finds that she not only knows what’s appropriate to do (and how to act) on special occasions, she also finds that she is more comfortable when attending special events because she is appropriately dressed for that occasion.
If we only take a few minutes everyday to remind our little princesses of the things that we were taught growing up, we would all have better adjusted, well behaved, young women that we can be proud to take to any occasion.