It’s That Time of Year
August 17, 2010
The fresh hell that is back to school shopping.
I bought these two kids clothing online. When my daughter found this out she demanded that I show her exactly what I had bought and said that there had better not be any dresses. Luckily I had gotten the no dress memo and only bought skorts and bermuda length shorts. Short shorts are not allowed at school, but my daughter has long legs and is a skinny little thing who wears a size 4T at 7.5 yrs old. So by default, most of her shorts are well above her knees.
So, I showed her the clothes and she approved of most of them. One skirt and a pair of gold sandals she scoffed at.
Yuck, why did you buy me those… those… girly BABY things.
Uh, because I thought you were a GIRL and they come in your size…
Ugh, well I am a tomboy.
Oddly, the skort with the large red flowers was not too girly.
I am totally not happy with this latest turn of events. One daughter. I have ONE daughter and she wants to wear boy clothing. I bite my tongue, but it is hard. I miss the poofy dress princess days.
And these oversized athletic shorts that she fancies now make me die a little inside.
Everytime she puts them on I find myself saying, “Don’t you have anything else you can put on?” I realize I sound just like my mother and then I die even more on the inside, right after I brush her hair out of her face and comment that if she tied it back we could see her pretty eyes.
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how do you keep all your kids clothing straight, when you do laundry? i only have two (boys) and i have to cut the tags in #2’s stuff bec they wear close to the same size. yesterday we bought school shoes at academy. i have no idea if they fit, but by god they are NEW.
Chris says: The kids are different sizes, though I do sometimes mix up the athletic clothing of my oldest two. And all the underwear? Have initials inside.
August 17th, 2010 at 11:39 amI have the exact opposite problem at my house. My (almost) 7 year old and 4 year old girls are so incredibly girly that they refuse to wear anything but dresses. I’ve had a really hard time school shopping for my oldest because most of the styles this year are too “boyish” for her… even the dresses. Like dresses could be boyish. If only we could meld our 7 year olds, we may have the best of both worlds.
August 17th, 2010 at 11:59 amIsn’t this the same child who, just a short while ago, would wear only dresses! It’s a new world every day. She is in good company, though, from pictures I see, Shiloh Jolie-Pitts wants to dress like a boy, too. She’s still adorable.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:00 pmI have two girls and no boys, so I may be slightly less disappointed, but I did miss it when my “girly” younger daughter changed over to the Queen of Athletic Wear when she hit 3rd grade, and hasn’t touched a dress since. The same kid who I used to hit consignment shops with so she could have a closet full of “dressy dresses” and princess dresses.
I am so freaking out right now about all the back to school expenses, I really feel for you having it x7. Good luck!
August 17th, 2010 at 12:03 pmCan I just say I feel your pain?
My daughter (10) just started school last week, and on the first day of school she came home in tears, because apparently basketball shorts are ‘in’ this year.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:03 pmOh yes, I had a moment where my boys were questioning my sanity when I told them they had to wear a collared shirt for pictures. WHAT!?!? Nobody wears collared shirts and their SO uncomfortable and itchy and that’s when I went deaf. I hesitate to get out my pictures from Catholic school where I’ve got on the flattering brown/yellow/white jumper with the polyester shirt (don’t forget your choice of yellow or white!). Every.single.day.
I’ve heard my mother’s voice come a few times this summer. Yikes.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:07 pmI have 2 boys, so no frilly poofy princess dresses, but I can see how it would make you sad for her to dress like a tom boy. Luckily there’s time to grow out of it as soon as she sees all the girls at school in more girly things. More shopping!
August 17th, 2010 at 12:07 pmI have one daughter and I would feel the same way. Thanks for being honest and saying it. It’s refreshing.
I used to be a tomboy too and I’ve changed, so there’s still hope.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:43 pmAre you saying the days of controlling what they wear is almost over for me? My daughter is six …. so I have about one year left…. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
August 17th, 2010 at 12:59 pmI’m glad that my son is not the only kid in the world with definite ideas about what he will and will not wear.
August 17th, 2010 at 1:26 pmWe totally should trade daughters for shopping purposes.
My daughter is almost 8 and would only choose sparkly dresses and gold, glittery shoes if I let her. I’m constantly fighting to put something a little less girlie on her for day-to-day living.
August 17th, 2010 at 1:35 pmGod, that sounds just like me…I have 3 boys and one girl (so far) and all she wants to wear is the little striped leg athletic shorts and t-shirts with high-top converse…really - she is so cute and she walks around like a little hobo…big sigh…at least they have tons of self-esteem. I think having brothers makes you tough and special all at the same time.
August 17th, 2010 at 1:51 pmOh Chris, I hear you loud and clear. My daughter went through an extended dress with tights and mary janes phase that screeched to a halt around the same age. She’ll come back around. Maybe not to the same poufy degree but she’ll find the midpoint b/tw tomboy and girlie.
And saying things your mom used to say? I do it and I hate it. And it makes me laugh too.
August 17th, 2010 at 2:00 pmMy daughter is the same way! She has a closet full of cute clothes and what does she choose to wear? Her brothers nike shorts and an old t-shirt. The shorts are so big she has to roll them down about three times to make them come above her knees and to fit in the waist! Geesh.
August 17th, 2010 at 2:00 pmOh, god. Athletic shorts. I despise them, even when my sons wear them. I ask the same thing as you and then “die a little inside” because I sound EXACTLY like my mother might.
Great post!
August 17th, 2010 at 2:25 pmAwe Mom! Don’t you get it? YOU have one daughter, SHE has 6 brothers!
Let her be a tomboy because eventually she will grow to be a 13 year old girl who wears skin tight EVERYTHING and you will once again be regurgitating the infamous words of your mother. “You aren’t going out dressed like that!”
Then you’ll be begging her to put on some baggy clothes and hide her pretty eyes! Good luck with that one!
August 17th, 2010 at 2:48 pmI also have only 1 daughter (and 5 boys) and right about at age 6, she started that tomboy craze. I HATE IT! To add insult to injury, my husband and I own a jewelry store, and she cannot stand anything blingy, sparkly or pretty. She’s 12.5, and I hoped that once she got boobs, that all would change, but no such luck. She loves soccer, climbing trees and anything physical. And, she just informed me that in high school, she’s trying out as the kicker for the FOOTBALL TEAM (cause all 5 brothers play, why not her too?)
August 17th, 2010 at 3:29 pmMy three year old lives for dresses and tutus and it’s holy hell to coax her into shorts. This was a gentle reminder to relish this girly phase, if she’s anything like her mom it won’t last long.
August 17th, 2010 at 3:29 pmFour sons and a daughter. The fact that she’s the second child didn’t really affect her much since she was a tomboy well before the youngest 2 boys were born. It kills me a little too and I really do long for the poofy dresses and hairbows and baby dolls. I’d even smile and bite my tongue at Barbie shoes strewn all over the house. But no. She’s in 8th now and she’s smart and incredibly athletic (the only time she’ll do anything but let her hair hang is for athletics where she’s required to wear a ponytail, albeit an indignant one) and socially well adjusted so I’m just going to hold my breath for grandaughters that I will spoil rotten and force to be girly girls whether they like it or not.
August 17th, 2010 at 3:30 pmI feel your pain. Sometimes I walk by the cute little girl dresses and get the urge to weep. My 12 and 14 year old girls look like they shop at Tarts R Us.
August 17th, 2010 at 3:34 pmI have the SAME problem. Three boys, one girl. She will NOT wear a dress and rarely a skirt. T shirts and running shorts are her staples. And not even cute, girl cut T’s; she wants the ones like her brothers. Forget doing her hair. I cam mostly talk her into a ponytail to avoid knots, but there had better not be a bow or anything dangling from the elastic. Maybe she’ll change when she hits puberty?
August 17th, 2010 at 3:56 pmI too have only one daughter. She’s 12 and going through some Goth phase and wears only black…or gray. It’s so bad that even my sister, who was a Goth devotee back in her day…all black even the walls of her room…was like “child…get some color into your wardrobe” when we had to get dressed for an event. She was into boy clothes not too long ago too…now I’m missing those!LOL!
August 17th, 2010 at 4:42 pmJust read about your sons shoulder injury, my son had that plus a pretty good labral tear. Ended up seeing one of the UT football surgeons, he was great and shoulder is stronger than ever. If he needs surgery make sure you do it early enough so he has plenty of rehab time. We waited too long and missed baseball season but were back for football.
August 17th, 2010 at 4:46 pmWow, she was such a girly girl ’till lately.
August 17th, 2010 at 4:58 pmI was a tomboy when I was a kid and I have to say that my mom’s comments on my clothes kept me stubbornly entrenched in boys’ wear long after I might have started wearing girly things again. I hated her subtle suggestions of how I might wear my hair and ‘you would look so nice in that dress.’ I’m sure I disappointed her but I might have come around much faster if she had totally not commented.
You can always do what I do when my daughter has insisted on wearing the same thing over and over-it gets put in the laundry pile and conveniently forgotten for about a week. I make sure I hide it well so she can’t just dig it out. I am sort of saved this year b/c my clothes drama daughter 9the same one I hide clothes from) is in uniforms. Ha!
August 17th, 2010 at 5:07 pmI’m going to record it so I don’t have to keep saying it to my 16 and 12 year old sons during back to school shopping. “Those pants are too big, I don’t want to see your underwear. If you insist on those pants, I will insist on making certain you have only Care Bear and My Little Pony underwear.”
Chris says: Oh yeah. I hear you. I say the same thing. Along with, “those are the dumbest sneakers I have ever seen.”
August 17th, 2010 at 5:11 pmIt’s me again… the older Mom of six boys and one girl. My “little” girl was a tomboy once she got old enough to choose her own clothing.
In her late teens, she would choose to look ‘girly’ from time to time… and now, as a married mother of 2, she has opted to wear skirts full time. She does wear jeans Burmuda type shorts from time to time, but decided she like the more feminine skirts.
I tell her with her own little girl… enjoy the time you have now, before she decides what she is going to wear for herself!
Another milestone in growing up…
August 17th, 2010 at 5:20 pmHard as it is for us to bear.
Chris, my youngest daughter is going to be eight in a couple of weeks, and also wears a waist size 4T still. A waist that small with size 7 length? Good luck, right? I’m so glad that a lot of those jeans come with the adjustable waist bands, even though somehow, those little buttons hit her right on the hip bone and she complains. She might be wearing a lot of sweats tucked into boots this winter. I feel your pain.
August 17th, 2010 at 5:41 pmI was surprised she stayed as girly as she did for as long as she did with all those brothers. This is just a phase too. I almost vomited the first time I said, “Because I said so.” I swore I’d never do it, but the endless questions just did me in.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:50 pmI finished my school shopping yesterday. And can I just say that I am SOOOOO not looking forward to having more than 1 child in school. Just kill me now, please.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:51 pmmy daughter is 9 and can still wear a 5-6 - with adjustable waist. I pick out all her clothes and lay out her school clothes the night before. I suppose with all those brothers she is bound to be a “tomboy” but this too shall pass!
Oh yeah - and “if you pinned that hair back I could see your pretty face”
I feel you, Chris!
August 17th, 2010 at 8:52 pmshe will like dresses again give it time i also am not a fan of the basketball long shorts on girls.
i find 14 yob tough to shop for because of the ever changing pant size OMG can you not stay the same size for a few months LOL
Enjoy when do you start we start on 8-30 for freshman and the 31 for the rest of the schools School
Homework and forms bad bad 
August 17th, 2010 at 9:02 pmI have one daughter also, and when she was little I convinced her that since she was the only one, I got to play with her hair. I am lucky she believed me, because at 24 she STILL likes me to play with her hair. Or she is just humoring me because she is on the other side of it all.
She also pretty much liked dresses, so that worked to my advantage. Today, she LOVES to go shopping with me and we have a lot of fun picking out clothes for both of us. Hang in there!
August 17th, 2010 at 9:05 pmI just had to share this with my husband because I think our daughters are twins separated at birth. We went around & around this weekend about school shoes because I refused to buy her brown boy skate sneakers (I had to remind her that she is an 8 year old GIRL). Her daily wardrobe is a t-shirt and baggy soccer shorts, long hair wild because no way will she put a headband on. I remind my husband that he still owes me one girly girl. Some days I look at her picture from First Communion a few months ago and enjoy pretending that she is a girly girl, even though she is grimacing in every picture. Sigh.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:53 pmI’m sure she’ll grow out of it. My daughter was wearing ‘boy’ clothing until she reached 11. Then she started trying on dresses. I can only assume she was influenced by her friends. She hasn’t looked back since.
August 18th, 2010 at 1:30 amThe boy-clothes make her look even more like her next-older brother. I was remembering her princess days when I read this post too! They ended . . what? Three months ago?
Mine has the same problem with skirts, if they fit her waist and don’t fall down, they look like micro-mini skirts in length!
August 18th, 2010 at 6:58 amWelcome to my world!!! My daughter is 9 and for the last 4 years she has not worn girl clothes, not even underwear. Gym shorts, boys athletic t shirts, gym pants, hoodies, sneakers AND boy bathing suits - yup, boy shorts and a swim shirt. She is also my only daughter. The only time in 4 years she has worn anything not handed down or from the girls section was her first communion, and there were rules! “No silk, no sequins, no lace, no tights, no bows….” We ended up with a white cotton sundress from Old Navy and white Crocs, and I cried like a fool. It started out of comfort (let’s face it boys clothes are sooooo much more comfortable) and now it’s just to spite me, well probably. Don’t even get me started on how a girls size 12 is the same as a boys 8/10 - what is that??? Start the size game early? But I must admit every time I see some girl wearing shorts shorter than her T shirt or a girl bent over and I can see all of her underwear, there is a small part of me that thanks God! Good Luck!
August 18th, 2010 at 8:05 amWell a girl in boy’s clothing is better than a boy in girl’s clothing.
August 18th, 2010 at 9:25 amOh gosh I mourn your pretty princess days and I don’t even have a daughter. Living vicariously thru the internet, why yes, that IS kind of creepy.
Sorry.
OTOH you can tell her if she ties back her hair she won’t get stuck in the tree branches as she climbs.
August 18th, 2010 at 10:23 amI laughed when you said at 7.5 she wears a 4t….my poor 8 yr old son wears a 4t too except for everything is too short on him.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:10 pmJust wait until she wants to cut her hair off. I did this same thing to my mother. I was the only girl out of the 3 of us. Something about hanging with the boys is so much cooler than those silly girls!
August 18th, 2010 at 12:36 pmGood luck, maybe, like my daughter she’ll come back around and you’ll get that “best of both worlds”. A tomboy who knows how to do her own make-up.
Oh, and my daughter wore her school PE shorts around all summer, then was bummed when I wouldn’t buy her a new pair for PE this year so she could have a back up for this coming summer.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:37 pmGirls…
I totally hear ya on the girl clothes!! I have 3 boys and 1 girl and my daughter’s favorite clothes are athletic pants handed down by one of her big bros and t-shirts with logos on them. I am not a super girly girl myself, but so much for cute shorts outfits with things like hearts, flowers, etc. on them!!
At least she does like her dress up “high heels!” Oh, and she doesn’t like anything in her hair either!!
Carrie
August 18th, 2010 at 2:44 pmMy daughter did this as well around the same age, but now, at the age of 13, it’s all about make up, shoes, hats and clothes. Don’t worry, most likely she’ll grow out of it!
August 18th, 2010 at 4:45 pmI’m convinced the boy shorts on the girl is the thing. A is also insistent on wearing her gym shorts out. The $7.99 special when she has a closet full of $24.99 cute shorts. Wish I’d know and I would have bought myself something cute with the money.
August 18th, 2010 at 7:17 pmHas she discovered Justice for Girls yet? I cringe anytime my 7 yr old BEGS to go in there because she wants all of the loud grafitti peace crap she can find. The more embellishments the better. With that said, we go to the extreme opposite for my five year old. I can barely get her out of old t’s and shorts and she has slept naked for over 2 years now. A diva and a hippy. That’s what i call em:)
August 19th, 2010 at 9:51 pmOh my gosh! I’m cracking up. I have four boys and ONE DAUGHTER too. I die inside too a bit when I tell her she needs to brush her scraggly hair and get it out of her face or when I tell her she’s got to wear something else besides an oversized tie-dyed shirt that she ties on the side with a rubberband paired with a stained pair of too-small bike shorts. ugh. I got a no dress memo too!!!
August 23rd, 2010 at 2:42 pm