I posted a bunch of photos of Carina rolling around in dirty socks a handful of weeks ago.
One of the comments on the post stood out to me:
"Ummm, is her outfit supposed to match? Cause it doesn't...."
Upon reading it I just laughed to myself. My eyes function, so I was well aware that the outfit didn't match. The truth? She had just taken a giant dump and got poo on her jeans, so I changed her into the first clean thing I could find. But really...does it matter? So what if I had chosen this outfit on purpose?
Or...what if she had chosen it? Carina is just now starting to show preference for one item over another. If I tell her to pick out her clothes and she brings me this purple striped shirt and flower patterned navy skirt, do I risk crushing her little heart and/or the temper tantrum that might follow and tell her "No"? Encouraging her to exert her budding autonomy followed by telling her that the items she selected are not sufficient seems like a poor exercise in independence and self-esteem.
What do you think? Do your child's clothes always match? Do you let him/her select their own clothes? Does it matter if they match? I'm genuinely curious as to what all the parents out there think about this.
