Small was playing on paint today, and he made a wonderful picture. He’d done lots and lots of different rectangles and squares, and then he started filling in bits with colours. It looked great. He seems to very much enjoy that sort of thing. Then he decided he wanted to play on something else and the picture was gone before I got a chance to save it.
Ah well, daresay there’ll be another one. Shame though, I liked todays.
Got through a bit of paperwork, and managed to post some stuff. Also took the children into town and replenished their wardrobes - Small gets lots of handmedowns, so isn’t in such dire need, but Big doesn’t get nearly as much, and appears to have suddenly shot out of just about everything she owns. She was thrilled with a number of items from Wilkinsons and Ethel Austin, and I took the opportunity to talk to her about appearances - told her there was no way I was buying tops for her with dubious slogans on them. I don’t think it’s funny for a 6 year old to go around with “100% attitude” written on her chest, or “If you want my attention, buy me things” (although I can see the relevance of it!) Lead to some interesting conversations anyway, and I think she prefers pretty flowers and butterflies to words on her clothes atm. I also refused to buy a pack of skirts so short that they would barely cover her knickers - what’s the point of those then?
I know, I know, I’m a prude. But I want her to think about these things, and then she can choose what she decides her body should say iyswim.
I’m not sure I do. Time for an early night, leaving Sharpe to his enemy
24 Comments
I’m with you on the slogan thing. I was trying to buy Fergus a t-shirt the other day that didn’t label him as monster, mischief, trouble etc. He IS all those things in a way but he’s also kind, loving, fun to be with etc. Why do we/society make greed and bad behaviour an aspirational joke and then expect kids not to live up to those labels?
Bugger being a prude. Mother of daughters is no joke; 6 is 6, not 16.
I’m with you there Jax. I struggle with relatives getting Mimi stuff too.
I’ve seen some quite disturbing slogans on very young girls including ‘Barbie is a slut’ and ‘Fcuk off’.
Who’d even want to put their little girls in something like that?!
Do I detect another fan of Sean Bean? I’m on Sharpe overdrive at the mo, getting myself ridiculously excited about sitting down at 9pm tonight :-p
Coo, wasn’t expecting such rapid wholehearted support!
Yes, had problems with trousers for Small as well - he doesn’t like buttons, so was trying to get him elasticated stuff, and the trousers all had things like “monkey” written across the backside. I don’t think so.
Gwenny likes tops with words on, but her tastes run to things like “Rock Goddess” and “I’m with the band”, lol, which I don’t mind
My mum got Buttercup a top with “Princess” on which got very little wear (although I think it might have got passed on to Josie, lol!), but I might have been tempted by the attitude one for her 
And no, I don’t think it’s prudish to avoid the hooker look!
maybe they should all have word cloud tops instead.
we try and avoid words/slogans with SB, but gifts etc make this not always possible. I like vertbaudet small price options for this though.
Agree about avoiding the ‘hooker’ look although I don’t have any great problem with slogans, particularly if they are apt. My own personal favourite T shirt has a Superman style S on the front and both my two have previously had clothes with slogans on them. D had several with Monster (but then that *is* his nickname
) and S has had at least two tops with ‘Princess’ on them - again what she considers herself to be.
I agree that to be totally representative of them they would need about 50 changes of T shirt a day though
Ow slogans - worst ones here were “Do I look like I care?” and “I am out of bed. What more do you want?” I a prude too - all my dd’s wear long skirts or jeans. No short stuff here.
We have a few attitude t-shorts in the hosue, but they are all on the teenagers. Oh wiat, Emma has one that says “It’s all about me” because, well, it *is*.
Other than that, we avoid the hooker look as well. makes shopping difficult, even for the older girls who can pick their own and don’t want to look trashy either.
I have a T shirt and it is a favourite of mine, ‘Once I farted in class and everyone laughed’. If the wearer is happy then so am I. I gave up years ago on other people’s opinions and I’m damned if my kids are being dragged into them. Can’t say I’ve come across anything I would say no to in the shops I shop in, or really short skirts for that matter. Pea would have them on straight away so I’d notice! The girls have ones that say ‘I may not be perfect but at least I’m cute’- fine by me.
I’d change shops
so glad it’s not just me then! I hate with a passion trying to find skirts that cover Becca to a decent length. I’m not after muffin style mid calf, just above the knee will do!!! i complained in Asda last year and the lady asking me to fill in a proper complaints form as “otherwise they will keep sending us this stuff”
My comment sounded rude - sorry! Didn’t mean it too.
Katie- that is about the only way to change stuff really :-(. Hey you could easily make Becca something yourself!
Big likes muffin style, which makes life easier. Shorts are going to be a problem, although I think I’ll just try to get a couple of those sunsuit things that have long shorts anyway.
Ros, didn’t sound rude. Chesterfield isn’t a particularly upmarket place though
I have this problem too with clothes, although Z tends to wear jeans and quite plain tops but its getting harder to find things for her, shes 9 and quite tall.
DS2 takes after me (around half my t-shirts that aren’t music ones are slogans!) in that he loves slogan tee’s. Amarillo being one of his favourite songs so I got him printed up a tee for Christmas which said “Follow Me” on the front and “I know the way to Amarillo” on the back. He also has ones like “It wasn’t me, it was him” and they are fine, as long as they are not sexually suggestive on small children (which I think is far more obvious in girl clothes, not really a problem with boys!) then its fine as long as the wearer is happy. DS1 isn’t so keen on slogans, he prefers skates and skull and crossbones and DS3 doesn’t really have an opinion but he does have one that says “Bet you’re glad I’m not your child” which can be very appropriate
Although his “I have autism, what’s your excuse?” gets quite a bit of wear when we go to soft play type places. I am *so* glad I don’t have to get into the skirts issue, jeans is jeans is jeans as far as boys are concerned LOL!
I don’t thing there is anything wrong with bright or cheeky slogans on t-shirts and it would be sad if people couldn’t have fun and express themselves, but that is a bit different from hooker wear. The thing I hate most about current fashion is whale tails.
What pray tell is a whale tail?
Many of the slogans are mega gender propaganda imo - e.g. girls are princesses or in training for sexual availability, and boys are anti-social! No offense to anyone who has kids with such stuff, just an observation.
That said, I don’t mind something witty. A shop here was recently visited by the police who asked the staff to remove the ‘offensive’ baby t-shirts from the window. I thought they were quite funny actually:
“Winner of the egg and sperm race”
I also think that most children’s clothes these days are mini adult clothes - way too much fuss in style and ridiculous fastenings etc. Our kids want things that are comfy and bright and that don’t inhibit their play. It seems that a girl of nine is not meant to play - just stand around posing with a mobile phone…
A thong/g-string riding up the back, usually while wearing low-rise jeans. Derived from a whale’s tail sticking out of the water.
Well you learn somehting new every day LOL!
Hate them also
I don’t know what it is like in Blighty right now, but girls from 10 years old here go around with make up on and the whale tail thingy with their faces all sullen and posey (eek!)…it’s an epidemic. It is true that a lot of mothers nowadays don’t seem to think about what messages clothes send out. Also, there’s this whole fashion thing about girls wanting a certain sort of attention..it’s totally naive and foolhardy, mothers should be stepping in. I reckon that kids need to spend more time around animals (in nature) and watching normal physical stuff going on (I don’t QUITE know what I mean..but you get the gist). They get far too many of their cues from fashion and mtv *spit*. Trashy sexuality looks just as crap on a woman as on a girl. (And all this coming from a woman whose skirts used to be so short they were belts..but HEy! I’ve been there so I know what I am talkin about;) Scuze the protracted comment Jax..I am attending Commentators Anonymous…but it doesn’t seem to be helping..
Ah yes, Josie wears that quitea bit, thoguh with the smell coming out of her ears currently, she is an unprincessy as you get really!
None of my lot go a bundle on anything too nasty thankfully, but then i don’t let them choose their clothes in shops very often!
Apologies to those whose comments were languishing in moderation, I’ve been away for a couple of nights.
Good thread.