I know that dressing boys can be aggravating at times, boring and just downright un-exciting, but I don't think it has to be that way! You just need to leave all of those typical boy's gear behind and fill their drawers with more interesting clothing. It will not take long and your boys will catch on, and even start to like looking slightly different. My kids go to public school, the same as many of you, in an atmosphere where most of the boys wear T-shirts that are down to their knees, huge baggy jeans and giant sneakers (untied) some sort of 1980's version of Michael Jordans... what the heck is that? There should be a dress code to at least tie your sneakers! Sometimes it's not that bad and it's only the big giant T-shirt. What ever happened to wearing clothes that fit! People buy clothes so big these days for fear that their kids will grow out of them, that by the time they actually fit they are just about rags. I am not sure where this is coming from because I don't see parents dressed this way (well maybe some of them), is it to cover up fat bellies? Not usually... even the tall skinny kids look like this!
I opened Nonchalant Mom in a little silent battle against this look... and I think I'm winning! (well maybe not in our little town) but my boys things usually go quickly, so swiftly in fact that I rarely get Sander into things from my store! The other day he came home from school, he had dressed himself in the morning of course, and I thought to myself I was so proud of how cute he looked! (maybe I should say 'handsome'!). Either way I had to take a picture of him because I want everyone to know that yes, my kids actually wear these clothes and look great!
I think that a new mom of boys has a hard time going against a masculine father and putting her boys into something more interesting than red, blue and khaki. But you have to admit, these days a polo shirt might even have five buttons instead of three! whew! And boys can step out of the box and wear just about anything! One of my contentions is that it should FIT, not be baggy and huge! Let's pull ourselves together here. I promise you that if you are buying something new, it's not a bad idea to actually buy for their age, I don't know about you buy my son can go through clothes and completely consume them in one season, so what's the use of buying something that will fit a year later!?
This
Sunday New York Times has an article that is called 'Toddling Past Gender Lines', which takes this a step further and talks about kids at 4 years old wanting to wear tutu's and heels, comon... this is a four year old! It's a game and it's not like it's the rest of their lives, they go through something and onto the next in a minute, I think this is holding a microscope up to a millisecond in a kids life! Just let him be and see where it goes and takes him and don't make such a big deal! If it continues into school I am sure that it will be a difficult thing to tackle but a close family will find a way through it with the help of the school and parents working together. It's hard to imagine that there would not be bullying, even in a quiet way that will make a child feel bad about the way they want to dress. I know that I have sent my son to school in a caftan, which he wears in the summers all the time, but when he wanted to wear it to school I thought twice but decided to let him do it. The boys told him he was dressed like a girl, but not because the caftan, it was because there was a 'heart' stitched on the back of it.. hhhmmm, it seemed to go okay (this was in second grade). While he didn't do that particular shirt again he had no problems with a caftan again, I feel like the other kids just had to get used to it... I don't know... and he doesn't seem to care?
All I am trying to say is let your kids 'color out of the lines' with their clothes, let them handle it at school. I told my son to look at what the other kids were wearing and did he want to look like that, he immediately said "NO". They are going to have to learn to stick up for themselves and unfortunately we can't always be there to guide them through, stand up for them, and defend them all of their lives. If you are ready for it.... here are some suggestions from my store (and other stores too!), good luck and remember to have fun!
Click here to shop all at Nonchalant Mom
