On Shirts and Style

At almost 6, Owen has developed a sense of style. In other words, he'd wear his black and neon-green bug t-shirt or something "pirate" everyday if I let him.

More accurately, he now wants to pick his outfits all by himself, and no doubt inspired by his classmates attire has decided he does not like "collars". Which leaves me and the little polo player embroidered on his rainbow-hued closet of polo shirts - oh, brilliant blues, luscious limes, glorious greens, creamy corals and sassy stripes! - very sad indeed.

I learned very early on with Cearra that this is not a battle worth fighting. As long as they are clean and appropriately covered, you have to let children wear what they want (at least most of the time). This will most certainly lead to your kiddo sporting blue/green plaid shorts, a blue/red striped shirt (they both have blue, so they "match"), and yellow rain boots at least once on a sunny Summer day. But hey, in the grand scheme, that's OK.

Still, five years of dressing Owen in perfectly preppy splendor is hard to completely let go, so now I search for whimsical and appliqued t-shirts - no characters need apply - that will pass my style too. Thank you Janie & Jack, Mini Boden, and Gymboree.

Poor kid is going to be really disappointed when he learns that starting in September he will be wearing a collar to school every day.