Must Haves for Spring/Summer 2010

Absolutely necessary for this season:

White leggings, Skecher's Twinkle Toes, Uggs (real, of course) leopard backpack (with animal charms), wide headbands, anything black, tank tops in every color, giant sunglasses and a white chihuahua in a cute little purse.

Paris? Milan? New York?

Hardly, just the things my little 6 year old fashionista absolutely positively cannot live without. Sadly, I will buy or have already bought her most of this stuff and it will be forgotten about about five minutes after the tags are ripped off and the receipt is thrown away. Except the dog, that's so not happening.

I can remember way back to first grade and the only things I wanted came from the bookstore, and the pet store, I wanted a dog too but terrible allergies made that an impossibility. I don't remember caring that much about my clothes at 6 years old, I was irked that my mother deemed it necessary to dress my younger sister in the same exact outfits, that was lame. I do cringe when I look back at pictures, maybe I should have cared more about clothes. Awful, just awful and I never bought the "that's what all kids wore" excuse, I mean I can clearly see what those other kids were wearing in school pictures. Nice try.

K on the other hand, is a completely different story. It's just more of me not wanting to repeat history so K has a ridiculously gorgeous wardrobe. History is not destiny! Dr. Phil said this in therapy this morning and I loved it, I was oh so jealous it didn't come from me. I immediately stole it and put it up on my Facebook status (of course I did). I know using a statement like that to describe the reason behind my child's wardrobe is a little dramatic, but it fits in with all I do for her. I remember being a little older and desperately caring about my clothing but always feeling embarrassed because I never got to wear what I wanted and to make it worse my mother never lost the desire to dress her two children like twins. I suppose I should be grateful that I was the older one, once I grew out of something hideous it was passed on to my sister who would then have to wear the same horrible outfit for years.

K will never know what it's like not to have what other kids have, part of this has to do with stores like Old Navy and Target, part of it is having a smart and savvy mom who can score a $200 ensemble for $20 but mostly it has to do K having parents who both know what it's like to grow up and not be heard. The complete irony here? K usually likes to wear her old leggings or sweat pants with tank tops but she is completely obsessed with shoes and boots and has an extensive wardrobe of them as well. We usually go over her wardrobe choice the night before, sweats are chosen on the two days K has PE, the other days outfits are a mash-up of dresses, skirts, leggings and tights paired with a lovely shirt that we both agree is adorable. Sometimes I will put together something so perfect and she fights me tooth and nail, usually giving in because I throw in a hat, the second she gets positive feedback on it she adores it.

K also gets clothing from modeling, sometimes she'll book a job that pays in trade instead of money. These are my favorite jobs, they are always really quick and she can walk away with the most incredible clothes. The kind of clothing that can usually be seen in European magazines like Vogue Bambini. She has one outfit that retails for $300, for a kids outfit! She never wanted to wear it either, I had to beg her one holiday, the reaction she got was impressive and it is now her favorite. She feels good when she looks good. This isn't lost on a child like it should be but feeling good when you look good is much better than feeling embarrassed when you don't. Last year she asked for Uggs, all her friends had them, she said, including her BFF, she had never really asked for anything with such urgency before. While forking over $100 for kids shoes is ridiculous we bought them for her. She has been modeling and acting for years and has made a nice amount of cash (which is all in the bank) she never once asked to buy anything with her money before these Uggs. So we spent the day finding the right style in her size, the look on her face in the last store was worth the price, she was so proud of the boots she earned. That money is still in her account, these boots were a gift from Daddy.

The things that haunted my childhood are things that my child will never know: abuse, neglect, abandonment, repression and yes, even the terribly awful twin-dressing. While some of these are not as detrimental as the others I treat them all with the same fervor as they were all equally important to me as a child. Some may think it's silly to fill a child's closet to make up for the mistakes of the past. I disagree for many reasons, one of them being I simply love buying things for my little girl. Especially when she never asks for them, that's all me. Besides, I know that the other stuff is easy, D and I will, with absolute certainty, make sure that K is never in a position where any of those things could happen to her. Every item I buy for K is a physical assurance of History is not Destiny, and it feels great.

If only I could fit into a 5T!