Fashion Mag

Some of you might laugh at this, especially those of you that see what I wear on a daily basis…I consider myself a fashionable person. This is not because I dress à la mode, but because I enjoy getting dressed and putting outfits together, whatever the outcome may be. It isn’t often that I style my hair, and I don’t have an arsenal of makeup, but I love those things as well. I’m not afraid to admit that I delight in fashion magazines and I follow quite a few fashionable old ladies on IG. If any of my children develope an interest in fashion and self expression through their appearance I will not be impositioned. The girls, in fact, have already completed their first fashion project.Our library sometimes puts out a bin of old book posters for the taking. The girls and I love combing through it for images we like, then we take the posters home, cut them up and make some art. One day we found a poster for a commemorative Barbie book. The girls immediately squealed at it. So we brought it home, cut it up, and collaged it with some of our other magazine clippings, and made the first Lila and Nina Fashion Magazine.Each girl chose the Barbies they liked best, and then they decided what to pair each Barbie with on each page. It is really fun to see what associations kids make, and to help them explore their perspective.We’ve also started to have conversations about style. It started with the kids asking me why certain people wear certain things. I explained it as their style. Now they will wear certain things, like two different shoes or their dress tucked-in and declare it as their style. I enjoy it very much. Also, I can not go shopping for them anymore. They must pick out whatever it is that they are going to wear. It happened so fast! At least I can still take them second-hand shopping and they don’t already think that all of their possessions must be new and expensive. (I anticipate that day with horror.)I think this is my favorite page is. I’m a sucker for Rocky. What’s yours?In reflecting on this little craft project I can’t help but do a bit of self reflection too. I think about what I wear in comparison to what I’d like to be wearing. I also think about what I’m doing in comparison to what (I think) I’d like to be doing. Clothes make the man. I should not be wearing the same clothing throughout the day that I wore to bed the night before. If I put on jeans and something other than a t-shirt my kids say, “Oooh, mom you look nice. I like your outfit.”

And I laugh, but seriously if three year olds are paying attention, everybody else is too. Everybody is paying attention but me. The problem is I’m not sure I’ve got the time to pay attention. Self image is tough after having another baby. The way you look, and feel, and how much sleep you get changes quite rapidly. I know my kids are doing great, so that should mean I’m doing great, but I’m not ready to live vicariously through my kids.

Any busy moms out there with advice, I’d gladly take it.

Have a great day everybody. Thanks for listening.