Sam dressed himself for school yesterday, and he wore this t-shirt, with these pants, and these shoes. Individually, I’m good with all of those items of clothing; but, together? It was not my favorite thing.
When Sam was little, I had so many opinions about what he wore. I still have preferences, and I definitely consider my style for him “preppy” and “put together”; but my standards are much lower. (I even love a cute graphic t-shirt on him these days, which is something I never thought I’d say.) Most nights, I lay out his clothes for the next day, and – other than choosing his own socks (which are usually Christmas-themed from the Target dollar bin – you can’t win ’em all) – he rarely protests my choices.
Even still, these days I lean more towards school clothes that he can play and get dirty in and – most recently – that he can get on and off easily when he has to use the bathroom. My go-to jeans and cords don’t always fit that last criteria, and I can’t help but feel like sweatpants (or “cozies” as we call them) look pretty sloppy.
What do your kids wear to school? Do they choose or do you? What battles have you stopped picking?
Just some deep thoughts for your Thursday.
E
ONE MORE THING… I had to come back and share these t-shirts because I’m basically obsessed with them. I just ordered Sam the “strong” and “kind” ones, but I want one of each!! They are PERFECT for school days and have such a powerful message for our kids! On Zulily today for just $9.99. (Warning, if you buy through this link, I get some credit.)
P.S. Newsletter is coming out TOMORROW, and I’m going to surprise one lucky subscriber with a $10 Starbucks gift card. Click here to sign up now!!!
Oh, how funny! My daughter almost always insists on dressing herself (I think she and Sam are about the same age). I keep thinking about laying out clothes for her the night before (or even planning out the whole week, like I do with my own wardrobe), but just haven’t pulled the trigger yet.
In my daughter’s Pre-K class, you can really tell that some of the kids dress themselves the vast majority of the time – especially the girls. That is to say, they don’t match at all 😛 So I don’t feel so bad.
I totally agree with everything you said! David actually insists on graphic shirts now, which I NEVER chose for him as a baby. He has a Lightning McQueen shirt he loves (which looks like it was from the same collection as that Star Wars shirt…)
Mini Boden has ADORABLE graphic shirts, so I try to supplement his wardrobe with cute shirts from there 🙂
Also, Mary VIrginia chooses all her clothes and I hate it. She has such a cute wardrobe but we cycle through the same two shirts (cinderella shirt and a fuzzy pink shirt) it kills me. I’m already preparing for a Valentine’s Day wardrobe battle. (She has a red shirt with ROSES on it! SO CUTE!!!) Sigh.
I remember your posts about what he wore in the early days! If I could micro-manage my daughter’s wardrobe, I totally would. And, used to be able to get away with it. But, shortly after she turned two, the battles over clothes started. At first, she would not put on a dress, so I bought all shorts. Then, at the very end of that summer, all she wanted to wear was dresses, and all I had was shorts, so she literally wore the one dress she had five days a week. So, now that she is almost four, I have realized it’s just not worth the time and energy. I just buy what she likes and what I can live with. She refuses–I mean refuses–to wear pants and a shirt. Even at bedtime, it must be a nightgown. Lord, help me! She has five dresses that she loves because they twirl and a few shirt dresses she will not wear because they don’t twirl. For this coming spring and summer, I ordered all twirly dresses to circumvent the daily battle and wasted money. The weird thing is that as much as she loves dresses because they make her feel like a princess, she hates bows and headbands. So, she’s my little ragamuffin girly girl. Next year she will attend the private Christian school wear I work, and I CANNOT wait until it’s the same uniform every day (though I am sure other battles will replace the daily what to wear battle). Long story short, I, too, have learned to pick my battles when it comes to clothes. The funny thing is that her little sister, who is not even two, is already becoming opinionated because I think she learns it from her big sis. My girls are sweet and funny and well-behaved, but they have strong opinions when it comes to clothes. Girl thing maybe? Well, I cannot believe I have written this much about clothing, but one final thought: you guys call sweatpants “cozies,” and that’s what we call PJs in our house :).
One word… UNIFORMS!
Because Sofie attends PreK at the school where we teach she has to wear uniform. At first I didn’t know how this would go over but it was been GREAT! The laundry is so much EASIER, there is no struggle or augments during are already chaotic, busy mornings.
On the flip-side on the weekends I give her full license to pick out her outfits. Which means we often go grocery shopping in tutus, tiaras and polka dot tights with red sparkle sandals in the dead of winter. I figure I have way bigger battles to pick with her.
I saw those shirts on zuliliy today too! Jackson, my 3rd grader went through a phase of graphic t’s and easy pants, but now he always wears khakis and a button down with a undershirt. He hates jeans and refuses to wear active/lounge pants anywhere but home-lol! He definitely has a better wardrobe than I do!