BLOG IN THE FAMILY

My daughter asked me if I would take pictures of her in the outfits she picks out. I said sure. She then asked if I would post them on my blog. I said I'd think about it... but knew I wouldn't..... no one wants to see pictures of someone else's kid.. especially not on a daily basis which is what she had in mind. We made a compromise. She now has her own blog. She's more opinionated than me when it comes to clothes and fashion and she's a lot braver too. Bag lady meets Jim Carey from Ace Ventura is one of her favorite looks. But a love for fashion is a love for fashion, whether you're 5 or 95. Here's to fashion for all ages.

www.ellapottersays.blogspot.com

MR. PINK

What's the big deal? The kid wants to wear pink. So what if that kid is a boy? He plays with trucks, rolls around in the dirt and roars like a lion but has a fascination with his sister's old pink sneakers. Nothing wrong with being in touch with your feminine side. The younger the better, I say. So the next time your little boy strolls out of the playroom in a tutu or likes My Little Pony over GI Joe,, know that you're doing a stellar job. Real boys wear pink.

TEA FOR TWELVE

Kid birthdays. I'm over them and I've only had one. My daughter never wanted to have any parties because she didn't want to share any of the cake. Fine by me. Store bought Cinderella cake, stuffed animals as guests, a few balloons. Done. What a difference a year makes. By the time she turned 4 she wanted a party. With real friends. 

Now I would love to be the mom who can have 12 4 year olds in my house eating cake, dropping cake, touching furniture with frosted laden hands, but I'm not. So we needed a venue that could accommodate a girlie 4 year old who likes to dress up, drinks tea and  loves cake. A lot of cake. The Wenham Tea House in MA was just the place. Little tea sandwiches, chocolate covered strawberries, tea, and a beautiful, delicious pink cake. For party favors we got little straw hats and decorated them with ribbon and flowers and voila,,, a tea party. And all I had to do was show up,, no set up/clean up required. Happy Birthday to me.

www.wthexchange.com

GIVE 'EM THE FINGER

When your little ones act like rock stars it can be annoying. The theatrics, the stealing of your sunglasses, the off key tune sung loudly, over and over and over. But there's no sense in fighting it,, so you might as well embrace it. A good way to do this is stockpiling on rocker duds,, at least you'll enjoy THAT. Little Fashion Gallery carries an enormous amount of cool and current frocks (I only wish they made this stuff in my size) and the design house of Fashion in the Nose tops the list. For girls and boys,, this is one finger I don't mind being given.

www.littlefashiongallery.com

PARTY GIRL

I think we could all learn a lesson from our 4 year olds. Dress for a party even if you're not going to one. What are you saving that really pretty taffeta skirt for? Doesn't that rhinestone pair of shoes deserve more than one outing? And if you don't wear that sequin purse now,, when will you? Every day can be a glamour fashion day even if you're just getting hot dogs and fries at Spike's Junkyard.

SNOW DEVILS

Kids are cute. Most of them, anyway. Sometimes mine aren't but that's another post. Anyway, dressing kids should be fun and can be. I only have a few rules about dressing kids and they are as follows: 

1)Just because they are kids doesn't mean they need to be covered in footballs, cutesy bows, Sesame Street characters. 

2)Dressing them in colors that an adult would wear is OKAY, as long as it's not head to toe black. 

3)Sometimes it's fun to mix the masculine items on a girl, and mix the feminine items on a boy.

My last and final rule would be,, throw out the rules and let your kids dress themselves as soon as they have an interest in it. I know some of the combinations wouldn't be your choice,, or mine,, but that's not the point. Give them the freedom to express themselves and cultivate their own style.