Dress-up

Madeline has hit her dress phase. I knew it would come, and here it is. I anticipated this day, but haven't prepared for it. So we are stuck with 3 super duper dressy dresses (like flower girl dresses) that are in the rotation. I have never gone through a dress phase. I do not like them, I don't have many and plan to keep it that way. I do like to play dress-up, and get dolled up for occasions, and put on costumes for Halloween, but wearing a dress on a regular basis is pretty much out. I avoided dressing Maddie in dresses as a baby or a toddler mostly because they are just logistically lame. They get in the way, get pulled up, don't allow for good movement, etc. I do believe that most girls (and probably a good percentage of boys) go through a dress-phase.

Now, I am in the mind set of picking my battles. Generally if there is no bodily or emotional harm that will come, I choose to let my kids explore and experiment. I could care less that Madeline, after 2 seconds of looking choose to buy boys underwear because it had Elmo on it. Im glad that she can make a decision and stick with it. The superficial stuff just doesn't matter to me, its the life lessons that I try to keep in mind.

Back to the dresses. One of the best parts about this is that I don't care about how long they last or if they are kept clean, so she is free to play, run, jump, get dirty, eat, spill, etc. I think that is my biggest deal with dresses is that they force a certain kind of behavior, "lady-like" behavior. Anyone who really knows me knows that I can act like a lady, but don't want to. More than that I hate feeling constricted and held-back, and I just don't want that for my Madeline Maye. I never want her to feel limited or edited or stoppable.

On the other hand. I want her to be able to recognize that there are times for everything and places for everything. Sometimes you have to behave a certain way, and you have to be able to read others with both objectivity and subjectivity. I also want her to feel beautiful. I tell her every night before I leave her bed room that she is smart, kind, a good listener, wonderful and then I end the series of loving words saying "Madeline Maye...YOU...ARE...BEAUTIFUL".

So she might, for now, feel beautiful wearing her princess dresses and sparkly shoes. Someday it might be wearing her prom dress or wedding dress. I want to lay the foundation now for her to feel beautiful on the inside weather she is dressing up, down or in between.