Hi Joy,
Yes, I guess you could say that. My girls like to wear hats on their heads, even in the house and pretty much every time we leave the house. One hat is a raccoon and the other a panda – those cute hats that seem to be all the rage this year. It’s funny, it doesn’t bother me when they wear them here at home or out at the store, but my hubby and I do tell them they can’t wear them inside other people’s homes. I just picked up Grace-Based Parenting! I can’t wait to read it.

Plaid and stripes – he’s starting a new trend! My guess is that he is pulling off the look splendidly too – he’s such a handsome little guy!

How wonderful to let him wear what he wants, because this is an issue that “doesn’t really matter.” My twin girls were the same way. They are 18 now, and the changes in what they chose to wear throughout the years is pretty funny; there WILL be phases. The faces of your boys remind me so of my girls. One was always the more serious one and the other the fun, goofy, make everyone smile and laugh one. Isn’t it great? There is lots more fun to come, I assure you! Enjoy it! What a blessing! Go love on those llittle ones!!!
Always Experiencing Him,
Jody

How perfect is this article!! I have found that with both of my children, ages 2 and 4, two seems to be the magical age in which they become highly opinionated on their clothing! My daughter, the 4-year old, still loves to pick out her clothes but at least it’s something different everyday and they usually somewhat match….princess skirt with a princess shirt. Now my 2-year old son is my strong willed little guy and he absolutely lights up with joy and delight when he puts on his purple princess dress – daily. Yes, he loves to wear one of his big sister’s princess dresses!! At first my husband weren’t thrilled withy the idea but his little demeanor completely changes once he puts on that special dress. So we have resigned to allow all of our kids to wear what pleases them at home as well as out in public except for the princess dresses…they are special for dress up at home only. My son has now resorted to wearing his swim trunks everywhere now when he can’t wear the princess dress. We’ve learned to laugh and take lots of pictures!!!

That’s ella. She wears the same dress to church every Sunday because it’s ‘the pretty dress that nana gave her.’ Steve wanted to get her to wear something else, but we figured it’s not hurting anyone, just our pride

My boys are the same way! It drives my mom crazy the way the look but my motto is that as long and all the right parts are covered I’m happy!

my boys love love love batman and my youngest loves robin!! and so they always want to wear their batman shirts!! which for a while was a small problem because each of the older boys had a shirt but my youngest did not. but for Christmas this year he received his very own robin shirt!! and now he feels the necessary need to wear it everyday or at least as many times a week as he can!!! and since i know how happy it makes him i let him…as long as it at looks clean!!!!

My daughters are the same way. My 2 year old likes to pick out her own clothes. She wears these funny looking brown leggings with almost everything (if they are clean). LOL My 5 year old is the same with picking out her own clothes. I really love it! They look so festive and colorful. It brings smiles to my husband and I.

My son loves to mismatch his socks – example one red, one white OR one blue, one green. I always roll the same color together but he likes to take them out and mix them up:) The other day we were at the mall and someone made a comment about his socks (I sometimes forget that they are different colors when we leave the house in a hurry), I just smiled and said “oh it is not worth the fight and he likes them that way.” They surprised me and said that there was a children’s brand called Little Miss Mismatch and they thought that maybe they were making clothes for boys now too. Who would have known that my son’s quirks were “stylish?”

I have a nephew who used to wear a 4′ wide sombrero everywhere he went – grocery store, mall, wherever. I always appreciated the fact that his parents didn’t care whether or not it was “nerdy,” but just let him be different and quirky… He eventually grew out of the phase, but I think he’s probably a more confident person now because his parents didn’t make him self-conscious about whether or not he looked “cool.” ) This post made me smile… I love quirky kids.

Great post today thank you! I LOVE that photo, he is so adorable!! That photo brings such a smile to my face-thanks for sharing!

Aw, I love that! I love picturing your happy little cowboy. You are such a great mama!

Thank you Jody! Yes, it is a HUGE blessing to watch them go through all their funny phases and see how different God makes little personalities! Thanks for the encouragement and taking time to comment.

My 4 year old used to wear fairy or butterfly wings everywhere we went, every day!!! I thought it was adorable and it brought a smile to peoples’ faces! And now she insists on wearing yoga pants and light t-shirts even though it’s the middle of winter (in Minnesota!). I agree, as long as it’s not a heart issue, it’s not important to correct!

I love that Jamie! I love that you are already choosing to embrace their differences now when they are young. Way to go!

I totally needed to hear this today!! My daughter (who just turned 5) came out of her room so proud of herself and the outfit she picked out and put on all by herself today. It wasnt totally and completely ridiculous but not something I would have picked out for sure:) I am learning that sometimes I need to swollow my own pride so that I can just let my kids be themselves and not make them who I want them to be. I can only imagine how bad I would have made her feel if i had told her it wasnt good enough when she was clearly quite pleased with herself. thanks for the encouragement:)

Love this Joy!! Of course I have “different” kids. My girls play with plastic horses instead of dolls most of the time. They carry knives, guns, and bows and arrows. They know how to gut and skin dead animals. They are brave and wise and most importantly, they love Jesus. What is most important shines through everything they do…. :0)

Ohhh my goodness, Joy…..your boys are so cute!!! Just love that picture of them…..and the words you shared today!

When my now 26-y.o. was 5, all she wore for an entire summer was a ballet leotard with a tutu. Then it was big, baggy shirts with shorts the following year. Then it was jeans only with a baseball cap. Kids are so darn funny. Enjoy them while you can. I think a lot of our worries over clothing and outward appearance are due to fear that others will judge us. Don’t fall into that trap. Everyone knows that when kids wear stripes with polka dots, the mom definitely did not pick that out. So relax, enjoy every cute little quirk, and smile! The quirks don’t last forever. My daughter has successfully finished college and is now employed by the Lifetime television network and is doing just fine!

When my now 23-y.o. son was young, he told me that when he grows up he’s going to grow one side of his hair out to here (picture really long hair) and shave the other side of his head. And he was going to grow the opposite side of his beard out to there (again, really long) and shave the other side. “Wow! What a great idea! You should definitely do that!” While he hasn’t done that (yet), I will applaud his creativity if he ever does. God made us in His image and He is the Creator of all. We ought to embrace creativity whenever and however it happens, as long as it is not offensive or hurts someone.

Here’s to plaids with stripes!!!

YES! I went through two years of only “stretchy pants”, nothing “floppy”. My daughter did not wear a pair of jeans until she was 5. REFUSED to wear anything that wasn’t skin tight. I went through the same thought process and finally went to target and bought a dozen stretchy pants, cause who cares? Oh, and she also likes to be “a rainbow” with her color scheme, oh well!

My son does the EXACT same thing. He’s 9 now, but he’s been doing since he was at least 5. I really don’t care, but everyone looks at me like I’m crazy when we’re out in public. I figure that’s their issue, not mine=p

My kid LOVES a Christmas sweater and plaid shorts or a polo shirt and a different pair of plaid shorts, over and over and over….. May or December, it doesn’t matter (and we live in an area where the you’d think the weather would make it matter) When he comes down stairs in the mornings I almost always hear a big finale number version of “I Gotta Be MEEEEEEEEEE!” in my head.

My daughter loves the summer season…. we live in Ohio and we are currently in the winter season but my daughter is still wearing her favorite shorts with her favorite summer short-sleeve shirts and running around barefoot!! At least one day a week she is running around with her swimsuit top on with her shorts! She makes me COLD just looking at her but I am reminded that she has the right to be Different!! As long as we do not have to run errands I allow her to wear what she picks out:) Your post made me smile…. It wonderful to watch our kids grow into their OWN person!! Thank you for taking the time to blog this!!

Been there, done that. I had one little boy, now 16 who loved camouflage shirts with, well, everything, including plaid shorts. I had another – now 12 -who wore cowboy boots with everything…shorts included. So, yes, it is ok for them to be different. They love it and it is one of those “pick your battles” things. It is not worth fighting over just because their style is a little different than what I would have chosen.

Before school I let my kids wear whatever they wanted, but now that they are in school, I feel like it’s a reflection on our family and I just got in a discussion 2 days ago with my 6 year old daughter and told her the clothes didn’t match. I will definitely be rethinking my strategy for dealing with the clothing issue because it doesn’t really matter.

i learned something similar raising 3 girls. after, they are all girls, right? ha:) anyone who thinks girls are all alike (or boys for that matter) hasn’t raised more than one!

anyway, they each had different tastes in clothes as well as a different priority for clothing in their lives. but it seemed wiser to let them figure out their taste (within certain broad perameters) while they were within the safety of our home rather than wait until they were away in college, or worse, young adult women in their 20′s:(

of course, they look at some of the things they wore then (as well as the hairdos) and ask why i let them go out of the house that way… But I still think it has been better for them in the long run. Btw, they didn’t look any weirder than their friends at the time. the styles in the late 70′s and 80′s weren’t always that attractive!

allowing our children to be the different God has made them to be is good. in a world that is so strong on going along with the group, these are the people who will be leaders. they won’t always lead packs, but they will be able to stand up in groups of 1 or 2, 5 or 10 and possible larger groups as well. the first step in being able to lead is being able to stand up to be different in the ways that are good and special!