Style and Toddlers

Style is a bit of a controversy at our house. I say E doesn't have a sense of style and in return he says I'm never in style anyway so when it comes to the kids things get a little interesting.

B is just learning to dress himself so his sense of style usually involves things not going on quite correctly. We like to laugh that his pants, and underwear, are usually on backwards and sometimes inside out. Earlier today he came waddling out of the bathroom to tell me he couldn't get his underwear up which was funny because he'd been trying for almost twenty minutes. Silly as this may seem, teaching a child to dress themselves is important.

This leads me to C who's favorite style doesn't include any clothes. He is the one I seem to be preventing from undressing all day long. It's gotten so bad that if he's not in the same room as me I worry because I know that undressing is probably his goal. For the summer we have come to a sort of arrangement, he can run around in a shirt and diaper as long as those stay in place which seems to be working pretty good.

D of course still gets to wear exactly what I say he does.

As I raise my kids, one of my goals is to teach them to dress appropriately. We follow a rule that our clothes must fit correctly, no diapers showing, and that they must be free of holes and stains (at least at the start of the day). We also teach our children that their are appropriate times, church for instance, that they need to wear a shirt and tie. We work hard to teach them the difference between church shoes, running shoes, and sandals and at what occasions they should wear each.

One of our newest styles is that both B and C must wear hats and sunglasses when we go outside. We have recently found out the C is allergic to most sunscreen, especially on his face, and that B's eyes get really swollen when he gets dust in them, he gets that from me. Our solution, hats and glasses. This seems to work really well and everyone loves the cute hats I made for them. It's been a change in our getting ready to go routine but seems to be working well. As they get older I'm sure we will have more discussions but for now the boys are good at listening and understanding what is ok and what isn't. I love my boys for that!

What do you like/dislike for your children to wear? What tips do you have for us young moms for those teenagers that maybe don't wear what you think they should? I'm open to any and all suggestions.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and jcpenney blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.