I recently read someone's blog page where they were talking about not buying shoes and clothes with cartoon characters on them for their toddlers. Some of the moms said things like they wont buy shoes with characters on them purely because they are tacky, they are embarassed to be seen with their child when they are wearing them, and that there are much classier ways to dress your child.
In my opinion, these are KIDS we are talking about! They should be allowed to wear their tutus over their clothes when playing outside, and they should be able to wear mis-matched clothes if it makes them feel special for picking out their own outfit! If a child has a favorite character, they should have the right to wear clothes and shoes that associate with that character. I'm not necissarily going to go out and purchase a bunch of these items, but if i'm out with my son picking out his shoes, and he wants shoes with Lightning McQueen on them, more power to him!
I know that this is MY opinion, and you do not have to agree with me, but I would like to know about your opinions. Do you buy these shoes for your child? Would you? If not, what are your reasonings?
My only criteria for shoes
My only criteria for shoes is that they are well-made and have good support. If the cartoon character shoes work, then cartoon characters it is!
Susan is mom to Alexander, Isabel, David and stepmom to Eric. She does community outreach for arizonamoms. Be sure to enter the Back-to-School $1000 Giveaway every day July 4-31!
Some people are so
Some people are so pretentious and it's really sad, becaue probably their mindset will roll down to their children since kids normally live what they learn. These are the same parents who probably think that everything their children wear has to be from Oilily or some other upscale boutique type shop that charges $90 for a shirt.
I'm all for empowering children to create their own style and if that means wearing shoes with characters on them or wearing pants with patches on the knees, because they are their favorite ones then more power to them. Some parents are so restrictive and should allow their children to express themselves more rather than to be told "I'm sorry that you like those shoes with the princesses on them or those shoes with Bob the Builder on the", but we just can't be seen with those on your itty bitty cutesy wootsy feet!! These parents need to get over it and lighten up .... I wonder if they aren't allowed to watch these characters on television or movies too, because God forbid we'd want anyone knowing that our children watch these characters when there are much classier characters to be watching!!
I don't encourage character
I don't encourage character shoes and clothes, or at least characters that are tied to some televison show or such marketing effort. My son doesn't watch TV, and if he did, I wouldn't want to start the connection between watching the show and buying everything they ever made. He's a toddler, there will be plenty of time for that. It used to bug me that infant diapers had cartoon characters on them. Babies don't watch TV, and the characters show through thinner clothing.
That said, I don't discourage him from wearing anything he owns. I don't care if it matches (most of his stuff matches anyway) and I don't care if he's already worn it this week, as long as it's clean. I don't think it reflects poorly on me, it's his clothes his choices, and clearly I have chosen to fight different battles.
He currently has spiderman shoes. He has no real idea about the spiderman stories, but he thinks the shoes are really cool. The problem I have with shoes is that it is difficult to find shoes that tie, almost all shoes in this age group velcro. Velcro shoes are too easy to get off, and when are they supposed to learn to tie their shoes if they never have tie shoes. And the preschool we'll send him to this fall won't tie shoes, so I have to teach him to tie his shoes in the next 4mo or I have to get him velcro shoes. He'll be 3, I didn't know how to tie shoes until I was closer to 5, and I'm not sure he's got the manual dexterity for it yet. And it makes me grumpy.
Sounds like you have
Sounds like you have issues....your upset that you have to take time out of schedule to teach your child how to tie his shoes. Hhhmm!! Just a word of advice, let your kid be a kid!! It only comes around once in a life time. I personally let my children choose what they want to wear, and I am not embarrased by what they choose to wear. There are times that my son chooses to wear his cowboy boots, yes Cowboy boots with his shorts. It's just kids being kids!! We all had our chance to be kids and now it is our children's turn.
And if you were so bothered by the cartoon characters on the diapers you should have stuck with cloth diapers. But from the sound of it you...you don't like to get your hands dirty!!
I have boys, so they never
I have boys, so they never much cared about what they wear in any fashion sense. They have, many times, worn capes, masks and tuxedos out all day. My younger one favors Zorro boots and shorts.
They own character clothes, but they tend to wear them for play and not for school. They can wear them for school, if they wanted too, but I lay out their clothes for them and I tend to pick out "preppy" stuff, I guess. LOL.
I let them choose clothes at the store, put honestly, they'd rather do ANYTHING other than that!
I won't buy t-shirts with questionable sayings, characters that aren't age appropriate (if it ever came up) and honestly, military camoflage is out.
I don't think that I'm pretentious for subtlely encouraging a particular style? I let my kids wear temporary tatoos, while I see other moms freak out about that!
I read an article a few years bcak about a progressive, dad who took his son shopping and let him pick out his own "style" - until his 4 yr old son insisted on the hot pink "gel" shoes! I suppose that everyone will draw the line somewhere!
"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein
I don't think cartoon
I don't think cartoon characters are tacky or anything, but right now I pick out my daughters stuff, and I'm a simple minded person so I try to find the most comfortable and neutral colored shoes so that it will typically go with everything and withstand my toddlers ways. When the time comes and Strawberry Shortcake or Dora is an option then she'll be allowed her choices :-) I was a rainbow brite fan myself. A better idol than say Brittney Spears!! Thats for sure.
Lisa - Mom to her spunky little Scarlette
Rainbow brite was cool!! I
Rainbow brite was cool!! I used to be an owner of a cute little purple rainbown brite purse. Oh the good o'le days =0)
I agree that if something is
I agree that if something is well made and a reasonable price, who cares what's on it. My kids get a lot of joy out of their favorite clothes and I wouldn't take that away from them - even if it's not my style.
Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 6 and 2.
well i used to steer away
well i used to steer away for 'commercial clothes' they made me dizzy and were always in sets and the bottoms always faded out much faster than the tops lol. but then i thrifted more and now we have character tops, my kids dont care .. i just enjoy them clean lol .. he lost me today and when he found me he was really filthy i almost thought it was funny how dirty he was, but i was just being lazy not cleaning him( i wish the dirt made him stick to me better) daddy was so mad. anyway i also enjoy buying the shirts that say things for kids too .. and enjoy when ppl smile and laugh. once in a while someone will ask for something special ,so we get it. we just dont go crazy .. they are a different size every few weeks anyways and shoes, oh puleez whatever fits is welcome they arent into character and brands yet lol thanks for askin; may you all enjoy your brands!!!!
"dont pee on my leg and tell me its raining"
I have to confess that my
I have to confess that my son possibly owns every clothing item and shoe made with Star Wars characters on them so no, I don't mind the character clothing and shoes. In fact, I occasionally keep an item that reflects a phase of my son's growing up - his Buzz Lightyear trainers, gray Bob the Builder T-shirt, Spider-Man sandals, red Mr. Incredible underpants. He's worn dinosaur-dotted sweatshirts and pajamas and sweaters and T-shirts covered with heavy construction equipment. Besides the Star Wars stuff, his T-shirts reflect his personality now - "Reading is Radical," "Stand for Something," and "Obama-Bama, Bo-Bama, Banana-Fama Fo-Fama, Fe-Fi-Fo-Mama, OBAMA."
Karina Bland is raising her 9-year-old son in Tempe with a lot of love, humor and support from her friends and family. A longtime journalist covering child welfare and education issues for The Arizona Republic, she blogs about raising good kids.
hey kinda..... where did u
hey kinda.....
where did u find an obama shirt, i want one
"dont pee on my leg and tell me its raining"
Cripes. Kids aren't
Cripes. Kids aren't dress-up dolls. Some of the best lessons my Mom taught me have to do with how to dress for different occasions.
I remember raiding the hand-me-down box and running outside in a pair of plaid shorts and a polka-dotted top, and I remember my Mom laughing about it with a neighbor.
If I had a toddler who loved a character, since I'd need to buy him/her a pair of "athletic" shoes anyway, why not get him/her a pair that makes him/her smile? I'm not going to put Dora the Explorer shoes on a little girl to take her to a wedding. I'm not going to take a little boy to the market in his Superman costume. At home, so long as it's clean, it fits, and it's modest, kids should be able to go nuts, and be as "tacky" as they can.
There are times when we show some class, and when we teach our kids how to show some class. What these snobs don't get is that one can have class, show class, and teach class, without meeting any income guidelines.
As long as I'm buying my
As long as I'm buying my kids clothes, I will buy clothes I like, then they can choose from those. I personally don't buy character clothes, I don't really like them, but I don't have a problem with people who do. On school days and for church I have to be okay with what my 5 year old is wearing and he knows what he can choose from, but after school and Saturdays, he usually ends up in a neon soccer shirt, army shorts and no shoes, and that's okay. I really don't think it matters that much; but, I'm not going to spend my LIMITED (I usually shop at cheap stores) clothing budget on things I don't like.
Brooke Romney is an unbalanced mom of three young boys who constantly has too much to do, and too little time. She writes the Mom Beat column for The Gilbert Republic.
My kids haven't worn
My kids haven't worn character clothing since they were toddlers, and that is partially their choice. If you want an honest opinion, they aren't my taste and they can look tacky and cheaply made, depending on the brand. I prefer to put a little more money into my children's clothes and choose quality name brands, and I would not shop for them at stores I wouldn't buy at for myself. I know other moms who are quite affluent but shop for their children at thrift stores whereas they would not be caught dead wearing anything that didn't come from Nordstrom's or some chic boutique. I think that is totally out of whack. I enjoy nice things, so I also buy nice things for my kids.
Suki, I don't at all mean to
Suki, I don't at all mean to disrepect you, but I respectfully challenge you. Why in the world would you spend real money on kid's clothes -- other than one nice dress or suit outfit for formal occasions? They're going to outgrow them before they wear them out. They're going to get a $13 t-shirt as dirty as a $3 t-shirt. Nobody, really, will know whether that stain is on a pair of shorts you bought at Gap or on a pair of shorts you bought at Target.
I know tacky, but I'm not so sure you do. You think it has something to do with retail value. I think it has everything to do with taste, and, more important, common sense. Did you know that you can get 6 pairs of cotton underwear for under $10? Is your life a whole lot better because you buy underpants at $20 - $30 per pair? I kinda doubt it, 'cause who would you share that information with?
I've been taught, by my Mom, to select one well-made garment over several cheaper ones, and that's great advice. But there is absolutely no reason to spend hundreds of dollars to outfit kids; the only person who cares about that is the one wasting his/her money on it.
My 9 year old just recently
My 9 year old just recently said she doesn't want to wear her Disney Princess stuff anymore. I am sad. She is also changing her mind on wearing skorts for school and is wearing alot more shorts. They are long shorts, but they are not skorts and I am so use to seeing her wear those.
Anything Disney is not cheap and I would have to agree that if you buy your kids clothes just to impress someone with the price, you need to exam your head. For those that do buy the expensive clothes for your children I don't have a problem with it. How do you think they will feel when they get out on their own and can not afford these items?
KarilouMomof2 is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Tempe. Her daughters are 9 and 6.