The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

My four-year-old has a STRONG fashion identity.  This is not surprising really.  She has made her desires known loudly clearly since she was about four months old when it came to clothing.  There were sleepers she would, well, ...sleep in... and those that would create such a tempest of unrest that they were kept in the closet for sheer decoration and cuteness factor.  She had a penchant for shoes as soon as she could reach over the shopping cart side and snag them with her own two hands.  If Sex and the City staged a toddler revue, my daughter would be a contender based on sheer shoe volume.

Now given this, you might assume she is a Toddler and Tiara's kinda girl.  Well....in a word, no.  Is her hair brushed and neatly coiffed?  Rarely.  It still bothers me but I have to content myself for now with it being clean.  I could poke at the lion in her cage every morning by insisting that she can't leave until it is tangle free, but for now, I'm erring on the side of maturity to help me with that battle.  And, to my relief, I am slowly seeing signs of her caring that her hair is taken care of.  Praise Be!

All Miss 4 wants to be right now is a pink witch.  She saw a rather, shall we say, "provocative", Halloween costume last year and has not forgotten it.  Clearly, the sparkly bustier and thigh-high tights are emblazoned on her brain.   I am hanging on tightly to the notion that my being totally unbudging about her donning a bustier at four will not scar her for life.  Or at least I am banking on it not being as detrimental as perhaps letting the blatant sexualization of little girls not begin in my house at four.  Can she be a witch for Halloween?  Sure!  I'll help paint her face, buy the pointy hat, even find her some stripedy tights.  Will they come with garters?  Not so much.  If I'm wrong, I'll put the extra quarter in the therapy jar.  She'll have a nice tidy sum by adulthood.

...Stepping slowly off the soapbox...

Long ago, I decided that barring frostbite and sheer negligence, Miss 4's attire was not a reflection of my parenting and not something I wanted to battle daily.  So I no longer offer "She dressed herself." with a nervous and apologetic giggle when we go out in public.  I assume you will look at her red glitter shoes, floral leggings, camo skirt and neon green fleece and either get it, or not.  So, given my total acceptance of all but the most illogical and unsafe of attire, I expected something similar in return.  This week I donned a rather exceptional podiatric appliance.  I now have a walking cast.  Upon seeing me, Miss 4 immediately stated "I hate the color of your boot!"  She is unfailing in her criticism.  Because she is four, it is hard to separate her fashion sense from her fear of the unknown.  So daily, I get to hear that she "hates" the color of the boot.  We'll work on empathy as we go.  For now, at least she's stepped away from criticizing my "brars".