Why Is Your Child Wearing That?

I have to admit before I had a child there were times I was judgmental of other parents and their kids.  If I saw a kid out in public wearing a costume, I am thinking why are you letting your child go out in public like that?  It shocked me and I told myself I wouldn't let my child dress like that in public.  Home is fine but not in public.  Or sometimes I wondered why kids wore mismatched clothes or inside out.  Again, I told myself my child would not be dressed like that.

It is true what they say that you don't understand kids until you have your own.  I watched kids all the time and thought I knew everything.  Well guess what you don't.  The thing is a babysitter is not around 24/7 with said child so you don't really know the in's and out's of kids unless you have your own.

The day came that Caleb wanted to get himself dressed one morning for daycare/preschool.  I let him do it.  During the process of putting his shirt on, it was turning inside out (he was only 2 when he did this).  I praised him while he was trying to put it on but asked if I could help him.  I get the, "NO!!! I do it!!!"  I tried to explain gently, because you don't want to hurt their little feelings while they are trying to accomplish something so big, that his shirt was not going on right.  I still got the no I do it bit.  Once he completed his task, he was all smiles and so proud because he put his shirt on.  I praised him and left it alone.  We got to the school that day and I mentioned to the teacher that yes I know his shirt is inside out and explained what happened.  She told me not to worry that every kid there has come in with shirts inside and out.  She advised that they will get it straightened out later and they did.

Just the other day, he wanted to go out with Daddy.  We told him he had to get dressed first.  He said he will go get his clothes.  He runs off comes back with a green shirt.  This green shirt is actually a Christmas shirt but no biggie.  We told him he needed pants and thought for sure he would come back with his jeans.  Nope, he came back  with bright blue pants with a black and white stripe going down the side.  I realized my  judgmental thoughts were coming back to haunt me and kick me in my butt.  I had to let him wear the mismatched clothes because he was so proud that he picked out his own clothes.  I wanted him to realize he can do things on his own so I had to leave that alone.  The one secret that I can share is I usually try to buy him jeans so that way whatever shirt he picks out will match his pants.  He only owns 3 pants that are colored and that day happened to be the day he picked out a colored pair.

In reality, you should never judge other people. Really, I never realized I was being judgmental until I had my own child and understood so many things.  There will be times, I know, that other people will judge me.  I will have to just suck it up and know their day will come and they will understand why my son went out in public with a green Christmas shirt on (in January) and bright blue pants with black and white stripe going down the leg.