Don't kids hate clothes for Christmas?

I actually have a child who WANTS clothes for Christmas. My four-year-old daughter asked me if I would tell Santa that she wants skirts and leggings (stretch pants). She wears the stretch pants under her skirts in the winter to keep her legs warm. It's her favorite way to dress (she has her own ideas about how she wants to dress). She looks adorable. So, of course, Santa picked up a few outfits for her with leggings for under the tree with the help of mom looking for girls clothing and letting Santa know what to buy.

Mom picked up a New Moon t-shirt for herself while she was shopping for ideas for girls clothing. I couldn't resist!

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Fashions for Moms in Medical Industry: Lab Coat

For all the moms of the small fry kids who need to wear a lab coat for work or other medical clothes like scrubs, there's a web site called Medelita that you might want to check out. Instead of boxy lab coats, you can find more flattering cuts in different lengths. If you have to wear a work uniform, you might as well feel feminine in what you have to wear.

If your kids wear a school uniform, you know that finding a flattering style that goes with the dress code is important to a lot of kids. It's important to a lot of parents too.

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Don't Forget Bridesmaid Gifts

If you're looking for flower girl dresses for an upcoming wedding for a small fry, don't forget to add bridesmaid gifts to the list of things to buy as well to show them how much you appreciate them. It can be expensive and time-consuming to be a part of your bridal party and with this economy, wedding ceremony participants may be spending what they could use elsewhere for their family. It's important to say "thank you" for being a part of your big day.

Oh yeah, and don't be a bridezilla either. That'd make me run as far away from bridesmaid duties as fast as I can!

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Kids Franchise or Cut Your Own

I have been cutting my own kids hair now for the last few years. I don't do too bad, but the styles are definitely limited. I think my kids would prefer I kick out a few bucks and take them to a hair salon or one of those fun kids franchise hair salons.

My oldest is going to be a teenager in two months. She's going to want more trendy styles so I'll have to start taking her to somebody with experience soon. My youngest is still a little one so her hairstyling needs are pretty simple.

This is the hairstyle my oldest is liking a lot at the moment (and I know I definitely can't do this cut):

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Nail Care for Moms: Send me to Huntington Beach!

This is a blog post for the "and their moms too" side of the blog. It's time for moms to think a little of themselves right now.

I think there should be a national holiday for moms to go to a day spa and get spoiled. I vote that I get sent for a day of massage, skin care, and nail care in Huntington Beach. I think that's fair since I permanently strained my back carrying four children, my skin is drier than ever due to thyroid disease brought on by the hormonal changes of a pregnancy, and my nails are bad from all the dish water!

Yup, sounds great to me!

Next in line at the mom voting polls are five sick days and two weeks of paid vacation every year as well! Wouldn't that be nice?

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Puzzle Stools for Small Fry Bedrooms

My two youngest daughters have the most adorable little room between all of our kids right now. It was redone this year with new floor, paint, wall appliques, wall prints, and some new furniture. They definitely hit the "small fry fashions" jackpot for their bedroom this year!

One thing that I want to do but haven't done yet is get those letters that spell out their names bought and painted to put up over their beds. I've always loved those. I don't know why but I like the personalized touch. I can never find all the letters though for their names so I skip it every time. Getting half the letters won't do me a lot of good. Maybe I should look at those puzzle stools instead that have their names in the seat. It'd make a nice Christmas gift for each of them, it's something they'd get a kick out of, and it's personalized.

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My Medium Fry's First Dance

My oldest had her first dance last weekend. The dress is actually a spaghetti strap but it's against the school dress code so we added a little shoulder jacket to it.

I can't believe how fast they grow up. Hug your small fry now because they certainly don't stay small long enough.

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Adorable Crocs!

Look at these adorable crocs! Did I just use "crocs" and "adorable" in the same sentence? I have never liked crocs but look at the crocs toddler/little kid Powder Boot for small fry kids! They are so cute!

I know my four-year-old would get a huge kick out of these boots (no pun intended).

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My Own Small Fry Fashion Diva

Look at this most adorable little princess outfit my four year old is currently in love with (to be replaced by another I'm sure in the near future as the weather cools and more clothes get added to her drawers):

She even has matching shoes with the Disney princesses on them! She loves the skirt, which she calls a tutu the most!

Now I'd better stop messing around on here and get to some online shopping. I know three women who have recently given birth to four babies between them so I want to look at some personalized baby gifts for ideas. I keep getting distracted by photo editing of my own kids though!

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Inexpensive Halloween Costume Ideas

This year, the economy is too bad to go out and spend $30 each (or more) on a costume for four kids for Halloween. We can't afford it. The kids want to dress up but we needed budget-minded ideas so I started planning over a month ago.

At our village's Labor Day festival, the peewee cheerleaders were selling their old cheerleading uniforms for $5 each. I grabbed two of them for my girls (my youngest already has one as the mascot of the cheerleading team). All I have to do is grab some make-up and they're going trick-or-treating as zombie cheerleaders. My four-year-old is going back and forth about hers but we have old costumes in the closet so she may just use a hand-me-down snow white costume. As long as it doesn't cost me anything else, it doesn't matter to me.

My son is going as a zombie soccer player - his soccer uniform and the same make-up I'm using on the girls. For about $20, the kids are all set for Halloween this year!

Do you have any inexpensive Halloween costume ideas to share?

• Parents (or extended family) who work at the hospital can pass down a lab coat and they can go as doctors.
• There is always the hobo/bum idea that has been around since we were kids too.
• Grab some of mom's old clothes, poof that hair, and dress up as an 80's girl...might want to go easy on the "Madonna" style if you live in a conservative town.

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A "Now" Photo of Me

In my last post, I showed you the hack job a hair salon did on my hair. Some people look good in short hair. I'm not one of them. That "then" photo in my last post was taken several months ago (March or April). This photo above was taken on Sunday. That's how fast my hair grows!

Now I have to pick a better hair salon and go get my hair cut and styled the right way! I am a "mom" but I don't want boring, "same ole, same ole" hair.

That's my son in the picture. He'd keel me if he knew his picture with mom was here. He doesn't like to acknowledge mom in public...he's at that age. Should've taken a photo to include his cool, black hoody with white graphics and the bright blue lining in the hood. My "mom radar" found this $49 hoody for $22.

Do you know how much I want to take the clippers to his hair? I know longer hair is "in style" but isn't it much easier to buzz it?

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I Have Mom Hair

Every morning, I take a hair clip and clip my hair off of my face. My hair is thick, coarse, and somewhat curly so it's the easiest way to do it. It's fast, simple, and it keeps it out of my way. The problem is, while I don't have a lot of time to spend on my hair (nor do I want to spend a lot of time on it honestly), I don't want "mom hair" either!

A few months ago, I tried getting it cut by a new salon and I walked out of there almost in tears. Here is one of the pictures after I'd spent a few hours trying to figure out how to style it. I really hated the cut. It was way too short for me.

It's since grown out about three inches (my hair grows fast thankfully) so it's time for me to get a (hopefully better) hair cut. I am trying to decide where to go to get my haircut. Because my hair is so difficult, the right cut makes a huge difference in whether I can actually style it or whether it goes up in the clip seven days a week.

My four kids are in desperate need of a good shaping so I am looking at a salon franchise for their hair too. I could make it a spa day with my girls and really get pampered.

I just don't want mom hair anymore. Yes, I am on the run constantly with three of my kids in soccer and two kids in cheerleading. I am definitely a soccer mom, but I don't want to look frazzled all the time. Once in awhile, I'd like to look put together (and maybe a few years younger and sexier...you know, BK (before kids).

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They're Growing Like Weeds

I posted before how I was going to wait to go school shopping because it's been warm here. Well, my bank account is sad to show that it's now time to gets some kids clothes for the new school year.

The plan is to buy my son basically an entire wardrobe since he's growing like a weed (he's 10) and my 12-year-old daughter maybe one or two pairs of pants (she has plenty already) and several tops. I'll have to pick up all those underthings that embarrass them at this age as well.

I can't believe how fast they're growing. Since April, I think they've both added a couple inches to their heights. My daughter asked me this past week if she could start shaving her legs! Yikes! My son now needs deodorant. I am smack in the middle of so many signs of puberty hitting me upside the head between them. It makes me feel old.

Where did my babies go?

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Almost Made It

Well, I was going to take my oldest two school shopping over Labor Day weekend but we got busy with the local festival (that my kids and I worked at for one of my daughter's cheerleading squads). Then my daughter fell and sprained her wrist so we were in the ER of our local hospital and the next day since she was in pain. So I'll try again next weekend perhaps.

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First Day of School is Over for All of Mine

The first day of school is done and over with for all of my kids now. I only bought a few things for them for the start of the year, clothing-wise, because it's still hot so there's no point in buying a bunch of Fall clothes just yet. More shopping to come in a few weeks!

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Medical Scrubs by Medelita

This is a post for the mommies instead of the small fry kids. It's for moms who work in the medical field and wear medical scrubs to work. Medelita has made scrubs a little more fashion friendly with darting, boot cut, and a contoured waist so you can feel a bit more feminine and a little less square.

When I worked in a doctor's office (not as a nurse), I was able to wear regular office attire, even though I interacted with patients taking their medical history but that was a long time ago. Times have changed.

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Internet Safety for Children

I know this is a blog about fashions for children and their moms, but there is a topic that is very important, and should be important to every parent, that should be shared. Because this blog is for parents, I wanted to post it here. I'm talking about Internet safety.

According to the FBI for children from kindergarten through fifth grade, here are some rules to know:

• Never give out personal information online or send pictures to anybody without a parent's permission.
• If somebody is making you uncomfortable, don't write to them.
• Do not meet with anybody in real life that you "meet" online.
• If your child reads something online that makes them uncomfortable, they should tell a parent.
• People online can lie. They can say they are somebody else. For instance, they may claim to be a 12-year-old girl but is really a 35-year-old pedophile. You should never trust anybody online.

I keep parental controls on the computer my children use (and password-protect my own from them as well). It restricts what sites they can see and it keeps a log of where they've been. I keep a good virus software on the computer so hackers can't get through and retrieve information they shouldn't.

If you are unsure how to set up a safe computer system, find computer support to help you. If you have a network in your house with several computers or are unsure how to set up a computer system yourself, contact a good computer support company like Click Consulting for orange county computer services. Not only do you have to protect all of your own personal information, but you have to protect your children who use your computer, or one of the computers in your home.

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Removing Stains From Our Clothes

Whether you're a nurse who got ink or blood on your scrubs or a mom trying to get that ink out of that adorable little outfit you spent so much money on for your munchkin, you'll want to know about amodex. It's a stain remover for a variety of different stains (ink, marker, blood, fruit juice, coffee and more).

When your child gets a bloody nose and uses their long-sleeve shirt to wipe their nose, that stain may not seem so hopeless anymore. I don't know how many clothes I send to the "play clothes" pile or the trash because of stains. Now I have something else to try. If it extends the life of my children's clothes, I'm all for it.

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Love Shopping for Kids Clothes

I don't care to shop for myself but I love shopping for kids clothes. When we were on vacation, we went a little shopping happy buying kids clothes when we went into town during vacation. We went for shoes for my stepson because the shoes he'd worn were too small for him. We left with a lot more! We picked up several tie-dye t-shirts for some of our kids and my nephew and then we picked up matching peace shirts for my middle daughter and her cousin. They were so cute! They wore them together (of course, I took pictures). My youngest daughter received Dora the Explorer flip flops that she's worn everyday since, ignoring the other four pairs of shoes she has for the summer months. I bought so many hair accessories they should be all set for awhile.

It was a fun vacation. It was a little hard on the budget but worth it.

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For the Moms: Take Time To Spoil Yourself

I think all of us moms deserve to splurge once in awhile. We go all out for our children, giving them everything they need with the hopes of making their childhood better than our own. Let's not even talk about what we give of ourselves emotionally!

Moms need to take the time out for themselves. I lock the bathroom door and relax in a hot tub until the water starts to cool (and the kids stay away from pounding on the bathroom door). Getting my hair highlighted is a special event for me as well (I happen not to mind my grays...I earned them). My husband spends money when he wants to do something special for me. He just bought me a guitar because I mentioned once I'd like to take lessons. He's bought me Diamond necklaces, bracelets, and even a horse! No, I'm not spoiled. OK, maybe I am - a little.

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Back to School Shopping Idea

I was just thinking...usually I wait to take the kids school shopping until well into September (after the Indian Summer hits). Perhaps I should put their clothes in lay-away now and get it out later in September. That way, they have all the new fashions that are hitting the stores now and I have almost two months to pay for it so it's not a huge financial hit all at once. Hmmmm...

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Miley Cyrus Clothing Line at Wal-Mart

Miley Cyrus has a clothing line at Wal-Mart! I saw it a few days ago. It looks like something my pre-teen daughter is going to love (and since I prefer Wal-Mart prices over mall prices, I'm good with it).

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Back to School Fashion Ideas

The back to school fashions are starting to hit the stores now. This time of year gets a couple of my kids a little depressed because it means school will be starting sooner than they thought. For me, it means a few peaceful hours everyday so other than the first day of school when I am teary to send them off to school the first time, I'm good with school starting!

I've started looking online at what the fashion trends are going to be, mostly for my almost teenage daughter but I LOVE dressing up my littlest ones in cute outfits. They are really girly which I just love because I love shopping for kids' clothes. With the economy the way it is, I need to find good deals.

I was looking at girls dresses and found this dress paired with matching capris that I thought would be adorable for my littlest one for preschool.

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Pregnant Moms: This is for you!

Now that we've decided not to have anymore (unless there's an oopsie), I'm seeing all kinds of pretty maternity clothes. They look trendy but so comfortable and being comfortable while pregnant is important. There are physical discomforts that you can't seem to avoid (like the baby foot or fist in a rib) and then there are those that you can. Wearing the right clothing is one of those that you can do.

If you are wondering what to expect in the coming months of your pregnancy and want a week by week rundown, you can find it here. It'll give you information on every week of every trimester.

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Back to School Hair

My daughter has been asking for a cut and color so I got out my scissors and snipped off all her long hair. Then I used auburn highlights. She loves it. I really prefer longer hair but ALL my girls like shorter hair. Since it's their hair, what they want is usually considered as long as they aren't asking for anything outrageous or inappropriate (like my 8 year old asking for highlights).

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2009 Back to School Fall Fashions

Reports seem to indicate that the back to school fall fashion "must haves" for teens in the coming school year will take us back to the 80's (when I was in high school...gotta love the 80's!). Punk rock and heavy metal, big hair and Aqua Net hair spray were big back then. Some of these will influence what teens now will be wearing (let's hope it's not the big hair though).



Here's what we're going to see:

• Black, gray, metallics, dark reds, leather, tweed, and blues. (Remember the parachute pants? My sister had a metallic purple pair of them.)
• Layering will be popular.
• Tight fitting jeans are in so if you still have the skinny jeans from last year, keep them!
• No more micro-mini's - skirts and dresses will be about mid-thigh.
• Bright mustard will be an "in" color for accents (not for me but maybe the rest of y'all).
• Just like last year, the converse tennis shoes are in. Get some markers and make yours unique or design your own on the Converse web site. Design your own to match your school colors, favorite sports team, or favorite outfit. Here are a couple of pair that I made online tonight ~

Look, these above have my name on them!

Are these Make Your Own Converse shoes cool or what? This bottom pair is my favorite!

I just thought of something - these shoes would be SO cute for cheerleaders to design their own. Plus you can get them with your name on them (or school mascot like Wildcats).

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Wedding Make-Up

If you live in or near Newport, Rhode Island and have a wedding or other special engagement planned and want a little pampering with professional make-up artists for your special day to come to you, check out Cosmetic Cosmos for Newport Rhode Island wedding make-up. Make it a special treat and bring your whole wedding party in to save more than 50%. You might as well do it all up and have the hair and spa services done as well. All your planning to make this one day extra wonderful for everybody (and yourself) deserves a day of pampering, don't you think so?

It's hard enough trying to keep disaster from striking, remembering proper wedding etiquette, make what you can easier on yourself (and have somebody else do it).

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Diamond Necklaces, Peace

My stepdaughter has been into everything "peace" for the past year. My pre-teen has adopted it as well after her older sister. She would love this necklace if she saw it. I'm not going to show it to her because this momma doesn't buy children Diamond necklaces but it is very pretty.

Is the "peace" sign still popular this year? I see it a lot in key chains and other items at Wal-Mart but I wonder what the fashionistas think about it for the coming school year.

Other peace symbols include: doves, olive branch, white poppy, the Peace flag (seven rainbow colors with the word PACE on it), the "V" sign, and a crane. The goddesses Eirene or Irene, Pax and Tranquillitas stood for tranquility, security, calmness, and peace in Greek and Roman mythology.

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Age Children Care About How They Look

At what age do children start to take an interest in how they look? I have a pre-teen who just doesn't care all that much. She'll leave the house with nothing matching from head to socks and it doesn't phase her at all.

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Top Bizarre Celebrity Names for Personalizing Baby Gifts

I was thinking about what are considered the top bizarre celebrity baby names. You do have to wonder where some of these names came from. Did you know David Duchovny and Tea Leoni named their child Kyd? Sylvestor Stallone named his child Sage Moonblood. Shannyn Sossamon named her child Audio Science. Huh? I like Shannyn Sossamon and think she's beautiful but that name is out there. Personalizing baby gifts for them would be so fun!


If you are shopping for personalized baby gifts, Pretty Baby Gifts offers clothing for boys, girls, and twins as well as keepsakes, frames, baby shower favors, baby shower gifts, big brother and big sister gifts, and gifts for new parents. They also carry all the necessities like diaper bags, baby blankets, bath and meal accessories, crib betting and more.

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Testing from phone

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Homemade Body Scrub

Full body scrubs in the stores generally cost a lot of money (I know this for a fact since I recently spent $20 on a small tub of it). I found an online recipe to make your own at Girls Life.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons light oil (such as almond, canola or sunflower)
• 2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix all ingredients together until it's smooth and creamy.

HOW TO USE:

• Massage into your skin to remove dry skin.
• Rinse with warm water and moisturize.

Makes enough for one treatment.

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Trendy Maternity Tops

Maternity clothes sure have come a long way since I was pregnant. I looked high and low for fashionable maternity clothes for maternity work clothes and casual maternity clothes when I was pregnant and was disappointed after a trip to every maternity store I could find within driving distance.

The maternity clothes they design now look more comfortable and shapely. You don't need to hide or disguise your baby belly anymore! A pregnant woman should feel beautiful inside and out! A healthy, positive pregnancy self-image will go a long way in being able to appreciate all a woman's body can do and how beautiful bringing life into the world is.

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Personalized Baby Gifts For Family & Friends

I love almost everything about babies - their smiles, their cooing and just cuddling with them and making them feel secure and loved.

Shopping for babies was always so much fun. Who can resist the tiny little clothes? I know I couldn't. Every time somebody (or their spouse) had a baby at my workplace, I went shopping for tiny clothes.

Now that I work from home and my kids are beyond baby clothes, I shop for neighbor's babies. I love the personalized baby gifts, making it special to just that child. I'll bet Jennifer Hudson, who it was recently announced is expecting and is about seven months along now, received beautiful baby gifts for her soon-to-be born little one.

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Great, Inexpensive Way to Clothe Your Family

I've recently found a great resource in clothing for the family. It's the local Goodwill! I usually stop in every few months to see what they have in stock. The stock changes regularly.

I've found designer clothes (Tommy Hilfiger) for $2-$3! I've bought my daughter Tommy Hilfiger sweatshirts and pants and bought myself some Tommy shorts. I found junior size pants for my oldest daughter at the Goodwill, originally from Marshalls, with the tags still on them! In fact, she's already set for jeans for the next school year. My husband picked up two pair of summer shorts with the original tags still on them for a couple bucks apiece.

I pass by the clothing that looks worn and look for the great deals on items that are new or almost new. We usually walk out of there with several large bags of clothes and I've never spent more than $40 total in there. That's a lot of clothing and great savings!

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Little Girls Clothing

Dress and shoes by Wal-Mart. The attitude is all hers.

Great little summer dress worn to end of the year pre-school program.

Adorable!

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Country Diva Sings at Talent Show

My little fashionista had a little wardrobe switch for her talent show after I went shopping. I found her this cute little top and skirt from Wal-Mart. The cowboy boots are by Dingo and I found them at a little western shop nearby. She also wore a black cowboy hat (which I found in the toy department at Wal-Mart). She looked like a little country diva!

To see the whole outfit, you can see the video (Love Story by Taylor Swift) below (the singing is adorable too):

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Spring 2009 Fashion Trends

The fashion trend for spring is geometric construction, goddess dressing, depression chic, athletic wear, and the trashy eighties are coming back (being a child of the 80's, I LOVE that!!).

Photos by Style.com

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My Own Little Fashionista Diva

My eight year old daughter has an audition for the school's talent show tomorrow. She is going to sing Love Story by Taylor Swift. She has her outfit all picked out. She's wearing a black "slightly" off the shoulder top with a matching black skirt with pink flowers on it. Her hair is in braids right now so it'll be wavy for her audition tomorrow like Taylor Swift's hair.

My camera batteries are charging to film it all. I can't wait to see her in her little matching skirt outfit. She's going to look adorable. I can't wait to hear her sing for the first time in front of other people besides family. She loves dressing up and she loves to sing. Tomorrow she will do both.

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Toddler Struggles Over Clothes

Do you dress your kids or do you allow them to dress themselves (no matter what it looks like)?

I was watching Rachael Ray today and she had Kate Gosselin of TLC's reality show, Jon and Kate Plus 8, where she talked about the new line of children's clothing that she is doing with Healthtex (carried by Wal-Mart). It got me reminiscing about how my children were with getting dressed when they were younger and the battles over it. (No, I didn't hear Kate Gosselin address the rumors that are swirling around first about Jon cheating on her or Kate cheating on him. I don't watch their reality show myself. She did talk about her new children's book, Eight Little Faces, though.)

For my first two kids, they didn't really care when they were younger. They put on what was there and were happy with it. With my third daughter, dressing became a huge battle right down to the shoes during the "terrible twos" that I quickly figured out to let go. Unless we were going somewhere where she should be dressed properly, I let her pick out what she wanted and didn't cringe in front of her when none of it matched. (She is also the little artist and still likes to get her own clothes ready and put the outfits together herself. She is a stylin' girly-girl.) With my fourth daughter, she is particular about what she wants to wear by color. She wants to wear a certain color and how she decides what color she is going to wear is beyond me. When she has to go to pre-school, I pick out several outfits and let her pick one of them to avoid the early morning fights. If we're not going anywhere special, she can wear what she picks out as long as it is weather appropriate.

Getting toddlers and preschool-aged children dressed is not a battle that is easily won. As most mothers know, you really have to pick your battles. I decided years ago that getting dressed was a morning battle I didn't want.

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