You let your kid wear that?

I'm happy to invite my first guest blogger, Shara Weiss, from Mommy Perks.  Shara is the "bees knees" and she is the very first person I met on social media.  We are long-time friends, we just haven't met in real life, yet!  If you've been following my blog, you will notice that there have been other guest posts.  Those were post-exchanges...I'll post for you if you post for me and I adore those bloggers, too!  This is my first real invite to a blogger, so of course, it had to be Shara! 

I’ve been informed that I’m officially the first ‘invited’ guest author on Wendy’s blog. I must say, that’s quite an honor! I adore Wendy and her big heart and I’m flattered to have been hand selected for such an occasion as this.

Wendy has seen photos of my children dressed – shall we say – as they darn well please. She likes my photos and invited me to post about allowing children to express their individuality. I run a book business focused on this very idea: that all children are unique and different. So of course I’m happy to write this post and share my thoughts with you all.

I have never worried about my children dressing in funny or silly or crazy ways. I have four kids now: 13, 5, 3 and newborn. They were born in order of boy, girl, boy, girl. I have a background in nanny work (16+ years) and I’ve worked around children for more than 23 years now. There’s very little I haven’t seen by way of self expression.

Say YES to the Dress...and other things

I decided long ago to allow my kids to dress up, wear my shoes, put on my jewelry, etc. They are welcome to get into my things or to share dress-up boxes with their siblings. I’ve found that saying NO and STOP and DON’T DO THAT too often serves to extinguish a child’s creativity and self esteem. I try to be a parent who says YES as often as possible – so long as it’s not harming my child or the people around them.

Jewels...

My 13 year old son used to wear my jewelry because he said, “It’s just pretty mommy.” He was right. Jewelry is pretty and little boys know that sparkling things are shiny and attractive. My son would be mortified now to be seen in my jewelry. Back then, however, it brought him great joy to strut around in mommy’s shiny things.

Pink, Pink, Pink...

My 5 year old daughter loves anything and everything pink. I’m not a lover of pink myself but I’m happy to allow her to be what she wants to be and if that means PINK PINK PINK – so be it. She also enjoys dressing up in her brother’s clothing and now and again they say, “Let’s be each other! I’ll be YOU today and you can be ME!” They trade clothing and think it’s down-right hilarious.

Dirt...

My 3 year old son is rough and tumble, push and shove. He loves the dirt, trucks, grunting and slamming into things. He also enjoys wearing his sister’s ballerina outfit because he says, “She gets pretty things. I want to be pretty, too.” I have no doubt he will outgrow this, just like his older brother did. For now, though, he enjoys emulating his big sister and doing as she does.

Underpants?

Most recently, I found a pair of my underpants in my daughter’s drawer. My husband had accidentally put them there while doing the laundry. I grabbed them out but stopped short. I thought, “She is so clever. I’m going to leave these in her drawer and see if she notices.”

Here is what she came up with!  I wouldn't have known, unless
Shara spelled it out for me.  I thought it was just a cute dress! 
Shows how much I know! Long live underpants!

An Eye for Fashion

No more than two minutes later she was digging in her drawer and pulled the underpants out. “What is this?” she asked. I had to laugh and her power of observation. I walked away. A few minutes later she came strolling out of the room all dressed up, with my underpants around her chest – through one arm. She had a fancy pink skirt on with a lovely necklace. The outfit looked like a sarong dress. I said, “What have you come up with?” She replied, “It’s a new look, mom. Do you like it?”

You've Got the "Look"!

Since then both she and her brother have worn this new ‘look’ many times. I don’t have them leave the house dressed in underpants but I do let them dress up at home. Kids are so creative and fun and silly and goofy. I choose not to halter this.

Little bro gets in on the act, too! Underpants for all!

No Harm Done!

In all my years of working with kids I’ve yet to see any young child develop a mental illness from being allowed to play dress up. It’s so much fun to watch them grow and learn and express their individuality! It’s also fun to show them photos, years later, and watch the cheeks turn bright red from pure embarrassment. (wink)

For more trending fashion, be sure to check out MommyPerks.com.

What sort of ensembles do your kids come up with?  We'd love to hear about it!  If you have a blog post that relates to this (or want to whip one up)...please share it with us.  Leave the link in the comments section.  I'll visit your site and make sure it links live here on the post.  You can also leave a photo on our facebook page!  (Yes, even if you do not read this post until a year from now!)  We'd love to see what your kids come up with!