Susan, it might be that Anabel just doesn't like the "girly" things, although if someone has been telling her that pretty clothes aren't for her, you should smack them. Some people don't do ruffles or prints - or maybe she just doesn't want clothes she has to fuss with or worry about.

Or, if she's really into running and playing hard, she may find it more difficult to do in more traditional girl clothes.

My parents once bought me a blue velvet long coat, and while it was really pretty, it was nigh impossible to play basketball or kickball in.

Also, how do YOU dress, Susan? She may reject "pretty" as being not her style because she wants to wear what looks cool on Mom. Nothing wrong with that either.

I should start letting Emeline have a say in her daily clothing. She doesn 't really dress herself, one of us always does it for her.

Crap. I'm probably mucking up some milestone by being such a control freak, aren't I?

Maybe ... but she always looks cute.

Where do you draw the line, though? I remember that Adam Sandler movie ("Big Daddy"??) where he let the kid dress and do and eat whatever he wanted, but then realized that his kid was the smelly freak of the class, and was like "Crap!"

I wouldn't want my kid to be the ostracized freak, but....on the other hand, if my kid is a boy who wants to wear a skirt, I'm about the last person who has any right to say no! Where's the line?

I think you have to draw the line where it's going to cause hassles for the kid. If you have a boy who wants to wear a skirt, maybe explain that boys usually wear pants and say he can wear a skirt around the house, but that the other kids will be mean. Then buy him a kilt.

Crap. I'm probably mucking up some milestone by being such a control freak, aren't I?

Doubtful.

Insent, btw.

I'd think you'd draw the line at "clean and covers the important bits". After that it's socialization stuff to figure out (possibly with parental discussion).

Toddson is wise.

Kids can be mean when confronted with something "different" and it depends on the individual child's ability to defend his/her choices.

Letting them experiment at home is always fun. I still ponder the shorts and a sweatshirt in 100 degree weather.

See, I don't know.

I put a lot of stock by how people are dressed. I don't mean labels or any of that shit - people can look just as awesome in Target stuff as they can in Chanel - just how they are put together. And I judge the ever loving crap out of people I see if they are dressed poorly (meaning: not put together), so I naturally assume that people do the same to me and by extension, Em.

But I also have a "thing" that harkens back to the 50's that if my kid and my husband don't look put together, then I'm falling down on my job. Drove Joe nuts when we first started dating. Now, he's kind of resigned to it and asks, "What am I wearing?" when we go out.