The Clothes Struggle
There are some kids that enjoy streaking throughout the house and you have to bargain for them to put pants on before you leave the house.
Thankfully, my house was not that house.
However, the struggle was still very real when it came to getting clothes picked out to wear.
The Dream
I had dreams filled with ruffles, ribbons, pink covering every visible part of the body you could see. I mean I was blessed with two girls, so the dream was about to come true, right? I was going to get to dress my little girls in THE CUTEST outfits ever!
I couldn’t wait!!
It started out good when my oldest was an infant; I could dress her in the cutest little outfits with matching headbands. Don’t forget the little ruffle socks that match the outfit. I was in heaven!! As she got older, there were little dresses for every occasion. We were lucky and had a Great Grandma that loved to buy her fancy party dresses for Christmas. This girl had style! My heart was full!
Until that day, she found her voice.
Then everything came to a screeching halt! The words every Mom dreads to hear.” I don’t want to wear that!” What??? But Grandma bought this special for you. Nope, no amount of sweet talking or bargaining would work. She had decided she had her own personal style and it didn’t include those dresses! Of course, as time passed, I eventually was just thankful it matched on certain occasions!
A Second Chance
Fast forward to daughter #2, this for sure had to be my win. I again had my dreams, with pink outfits galore, fluffy dresses, ribbons and everything else that goes with that! It started out great, while she didn’t have an opinion.
I think almost every outfit was pink by this point in time for daughter #2. She was bald, so the headbands helped so people could at least sort of figure out she was a girl. Although, I guess not even the frilly headband and pink from head to toe can help some people!
I thought for sure I was good this time around, as daughter #2 loved pink! She even loved dresses and skirts and looked forward to Great Grandma’s yearly Christmas dresses. This was it, I was one happy momma!
Until that day in the dressing room!
Having outgrown most of her pink dresses and having no hand me down dresses from her older sister anymore, it was time to go shopping. We had picked out tons of beautiful options and were in the process of trying them on before leaving the store when the dreaded moment hit again.
This time instead of not wanting to wear “dresses”, every dress we tried on was “itchy”. So dress after dress was tossed aside while we tried to identify the elusive “itchy” factor on each and every dress.
And let me tell you, there are a lot of potential “itchy” factors if you have not taken a look at kid dresses! No netting, no ruffles, no layers, no to certain fabrics, no to certain designs as they are “itchy” in a different place. My head was spinning and my heart was breaking, as my visions of beautiful layers of pink dresses began crumbling before my eyes!
This time, the dream crumbled for a different reason. This girl desperately wanted a dress, but could no longer “find a dress”. This was almost more discouraging for this momma than my first born not wanting to wear a dress. I would now be destined to spend hours in dressing rooms, while we tried on a multitude of dresses trying to find just the right one that wouldn’t “itch”.
The Dress Days Are Gone
Gone were the days of just grabbing a dress off the rack and bringing it home for my daughter to wear! There would for sure be something that was, yep you guessed it, “itchy”! I was now in my own personal purgatory of the girl’s dressing room, going through hanger after hanger to find just the right dress that wasn’t “itchy” so we could go to Grandma’s house.
While I can laugh now, at the time, there was no laughter present!
You see, what I failed to appreciate until, much, much later was that while the “itchy” and the specific opinions on their ensemble, were not appreciated at the time, now it has shaped them for who they are today.
These girls at that early age were already preparing themselves to be strong, independent women. They had opinions and they weren’t afraid to share them. Isn’t that what I wanted for them?
Okay maybe not with me, they could have held their opinions at that time (and even today as grown women, some remarks are better left unsaid). We are still working on that aspect, especially when they look at their Dad and I’s choices!
Strong and Independent
I am proud of the women they have matured and become by establishing their own style and opinions separate from mine. They can express their opinions and desires and will not be pushed around by others. They are strong, independent women that are ready to tackle the world.
So the next time you are stuck inside a dressing room, ready to pull your hair out. Take a breath, grab another clothing item off the hanger and know that one day this will all be worth it!
