Monday, March 15, 2010

Someone PLEASE enlighten me!

ok, so i keep seeing all these people who have their kids dressed to the T and have spent bookoo dollars on outfits that will seriously fit their little ones for all of 3 months! What baby was born knowing if thier clothes are from Gymboree, Children's Place, Gap, "RANDOM BOUTIQUE THAT OVER CHARGES" or WALMART or Target, or the THRIFT store? (and i am NOT saying having clothese that come from these stores is wrong!) ok, spend the money whatever-to me its just not that important. What really boggles my mind though are the moms who spend like $10+ on a shirt that is for a very specific holiday-such as St. Patty's day, Valentines Day or the like, but don't let their kids wear it in public any other day. WHAT? Can someone enlighten me as to what you are trying to teach your child? I KNOW i am not the most fashion conscious mother-i mean Wednesday nights my younger kids go to church in PJs; my children have been known to leave the house with a stain on their shirt-and yes, Candice does her own hair. But I can't help but wonder WHY does looking SO PERFECT have to be in the top priority for such young kids? They are born innately self-centered. The Bible teaches us to be CHRIST centered. How is being the perfect fashionista teaching them that appearances are not the top priority? At 4 years old, Candice is already being scolded for being int he mirror too much-she literally fixes her hair or "pretend make-up" like 6x a day! Don't get me wrong, i think a person-young or old-should look in the mirror and fix what needs fixing, but our society has REALLY impacted how we dress our kids and what we teach them is important, whether or not you stand there and say "THIS IS IMPORTANT TO LOOK PERFECT" that is what you are saying! I really think Christian moms need to get their priorities in order with this one.
*So go ahead, enlighten me, tell me how its NOT teaching them that appearances are the priority.* (again, i am sure i will be criticized, i welcome your criticisms :)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I am all about DEALS, so I look at the Goodwill for cute name brand clothes for $1-3 and I find them! So, I enjoy shopping for them and finding cute clothes for outrageously cheap prices! I can find name brand clothes for Walmart prices! So my kids can look cute for cheap:) and yes, we should focus on the inward not outward beauty! (I Peter 3) But we shouldnt look like rag a muffins either- we should take care of ourselves and our appearance.

Unknown said...

I dont really think that having your kid wear name brand clothes at a young age is what makes them "worry" about their appearance or lack of. The only ppl that know they are wearing name brand is the person who bought it or other parents that see. IMO our kids learn what they see they copy us not the name brand of clothes they wear. My 3.5 a yr old will stand in front of the mirror and try to fix her hair and when she sees me putting on make up she wants to also. I really dont think it has anything to do with whether or not you put name brand clothes on your child . Its more about teaching by example ,but at the same time if you wouldnt go out looking a certain way why would you expect your kids to?

~Abbey~ said...

@Chas-yes, DEALS are awesome. Some name brands are definitely better quality also-so may be worth even spending the extra money on it brand new. Especially if it needs to go through a few kids. I am not knocking buying name brands-just the focus on it.

@boyles23-i agree with you saying that its the example they follow.

So what is it that makes SOME moms (alot of them in today's society) feel the need to keep up celeb stats? I seriously know lots of moms who will NOT buy used or allow their children to wear WM attire because they are above that-but yet the mom is going IN DEBT to do it...at 3.5 the child may not put 2 & 2 together, but at 6 they will. (i know its the attitude behind the buying, not the buying itself) case in point: my son had gotten MANY clothes from relatives which i truly appreciated since i did not have to do the purchasing one year for school. the next year i did have to do the purchasing and my son informed me that he only wears things that say "G.A.P" on them. That year all he got was WM/Target brand-just to prove a point. He is 6.
And yes, we should not let our kids go out looking like rag-a-muffins--like i said fix what needs fixing....we just need to make sure we don't cross over to Vanity. "Vanity of vanities saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; All is vanity." Ecclesiastes 1:2

Dusty (To the Moon and Back) said...

Amen!

Mom of 3 said...

Abbey I am also boggled by this. I guess it falls under the "keeping up with the Jones" and such but I really don't see the point since you can't take it with you in the end anyway. Now I am one who will buy my kids special outfits for Easter and Christmas only because I try to get matching ones for all three and so have to spend a bit more than I would normally shopping at WM.

As far as looking/fixing themselves in a mirror, all three of mine do that and they didn't get it from me. I don't wear make-up but once a year but they constantly ask to play in it. Maybe it is hardwired into their genes? lol.