You know how there are all those declarations you make before you have a kid about what kind of parent you are going to be?
I was suuuure I would be one of those parents that just buys all her kids’ clothes second hand and in bulk from a garage sale.
They’re kids after all. Let them have fun. Get dirty. Who cares what their clothes look like?
I still totally agree with part of that. The fun and dirty part.
But apparently, I do care what my kid looks like. Because I am so so so sick of blue, grey, and brown.
Before we knew Eddie was a boy, I thought a lot about girl’s clothes. If we had a girl, I would look hard to find gender-neutral stuff for her to wear. She could wear boys clothes. She could wear overalls and blue and green and robots and trucks if she wanted to. Because she is a girl and she can do anything a boy can do!! Of course she can. YEAH FEMINISM!
But can a boy do anything a girl can do?
Why not?
I am realizing that even though there is an overwhelming amount of pink and frills and bows in the little girls clothing section, it seems like there is even less diversity in the boys section.
Is it just me?
I find that little boys clothes usually fall into one of three categories:
Blue-Griege:
Licensed:
Cocky:
I am not a fan of any of these trends.
Seems like you could dress a little girl in just about anything. But that people are really uncomfortable with a little boy in clothes that are even remotely feminine. Or like, not even feminine. Just colorful? Expressive?
Does it matter? Probably not. I’m sure the way you treat your kids, the examples you set, the opportunities you expose them to, and the lessons you teach them all vastly outweigh their clothing options.
It is symbolic, though. And I wish it was different. Our society is pretty hard on men. They are held to pretty unrealistic standards of masculinity. And it starts young. I mean, we all know how terrible it is for a boy to be considered feminine. Or to show sensitivity.
It’s totally not healthy. I want my son to grow up comfortable showing emotion, and expressing who he is. It’s a daunting task; raising a well-adjusted, confident child who is secure in his masculinity. I am not sure where to begin.
So I guess I’ll just start with his wardrobe.
Available Light. 
Hey Shannon!! You would really enjoy reading a book called raising boys. We read it I my book club. I also recently bought a pair of yellow and a pair of salmon colored pants for the boys! Can’t wait to put them on them! Just wait for spring😀
Oh, thanks for the book suggestion! Who is the author? I’ll check it out. Hopefully they have it on audiobook because I suck at reading books! 🙂 Thanks for reading.
[…] a follow up to this post, I thought I would look for some ways I could vary my kid’s wardrobe a little. Incorporate […]