Okay so I know not all parents feel the same as me, but personally, I think my kids are an extension of me and seeing as style is important to me, I like my kids to be well dressed.
I’m not talking about them wearing obscenely expensive designer clothing. I don’t see the logic in them wearing the likes of Ralph Lauren. Especially seeing as they will only out grow them in just a few months and not to mention the fact that they will destroy the clothes from playing with all things mucky. And don’t get me started about their eating habits! Lesson learned; tomato sauce does NOT come out.
Up until recently, my kids have worn what I carefully selected for them. But now, now my five-year-old son has discovered something. Something I detest. Something I have sworn never to allow. He wants those God-awful shoes and T-shirts with the likes of Lightning McQueen and Minions on them. And not pajamas. Sure, that would be fine. No, he wants to be seen in public with this shit!
Oh, the money I have seen wasted over the past few years on expensive clothing bought by relatives looking to show how much they care by forking out more than necessary on hideous bedazzled Gucci jeans and desperate T-shirts. People! Please! Either just go for basics or leave us the receipt. God. Reading this, it sounds like I am this unbearable, arrogant, ungrateful cow. But it’s not that! I just don’t want to see you waste your money. I’m sure you worked very hard for that money. Or maybe you’re a master hustler. Hey, to each their own. Either way: money is money.
Folks. Have you an upcoming birthday party and you’re doubting what to get the kid in question? Stick to the basics! Unless of course you are totally familiar with the kids’ (read mother’s) style.
Right so, that’s the clothing discussed. Can we talk about toys now? We all have that one person (or more if you are really, really, really unlucky) who doesn’t have kids and so is actually completely clueless as to what it’s like to be a mother. Said person is inclined to arrive at the door with the biggest and loudest present, costing them an arm and a leg.
Do they think I have a second home to house all these huge toys?
Stored away in some kind of soundproof room because the f-ing sirens and dinosaur roars won’t stop! Damn Duracell.
A couple of years back we were celebrating my sons’ third birthday with a gang of our friends, their children, and relatives. Just as a friend of mine was about to give my son his present (if it looks like a book and feels like a book, it’s safe to say it’s a book) relatives cut in there with a quad. Yes. A quad. A fully charged, horn tooting, radio blaring, sound effects blasting quad. Not to be ungrateful or anything. I mean, my son was absolutely thrilled and over the moon, but personally, I thought it was a bit excessive. I would have preferred books. Wooden toys. Learning activity play. I suppose you could argue that learning to accelerate while steering simultaneously is learning. In the corner of my eye, I could see my friends’ awkward response, “subtly” placing his present on the dresser. Sorry dude.
If you’re in doubt, this is what constitutes as stylish for kids right now:
Aisling is an Irish mother of two boys (age two and five) currently living in the Netherlands. She loves to write about what life throws your way, as a mother, as a sister, as a woman, documenting it all on her website The House of Bash. Aisling is also a Style Contributor for The LB Brand based in Philadelphia and a creative writer for fashion and motherhood websites as well as a translator/transcreator. Catch up with her on her blog or Instagram.
