Yes, I dress my baby like a baby........

I've been thinking about this post for the last week and am not really sure how to write it.  I am not into controversy, and I would never want to hurt anyone's feelings on purpose so I hope this post doesn't offend anyone.  I just had "a moment" last week at church and need to get it off my chest.  The "moment" has been building for awhile (pretty much all summer).  I do know that I've brought this on myself.  I do know that it would be easy to change this.  But at what point do I get to do what I want vs what the rest of the midwestern mommies and daddies and random strangers at church think I should do? 

 

As my (10) faithful readers know, this is my buddy.  He is sweet, he is my heart, and, he is ONE!!!  He is not 6, he is not 13, he is not 22, and he is not his daddy.  He is still a baby, and I really, really don't see the problem with dressing him like one. 

Peter pan collars?  Sweet on babies.  Smocking on longalls?  Even more precious.  Bubbles, jon jons, rompers, sunsuits?  I don't care what you call them, they're appropriate when it's hot out and make him look like a little boy.  I may not be jealous of the extreme heat that the south has in the summer, but I am jealous that you can take your babies out in sweet outfits and people don't look at you like you are a crazy woman who might just be trying to turn her son into a girl.

(see, even as a newborn he looked like a boy!!)

I have to say, I am NOT trying to dress my little guy up like he is a girl.  I am dressing him like he is a baby.  If you look at pictures from my brother 30 years ago?  Same kind of outfits.  Sweet sunsuits with appliques, the occasional smocked outfit for church, etc.  These are classic clothes for young boys.  I understand that there are plenty of people out there (especially in the midwest) who don't dress their children this way.  Church clothes are khacki shorts and polo shirts, khacki pants and sweaters, cordouroys and button downs.  Don't get me wrong, Spence has plenty of all of the above.  He certainly isn't wearing smocking to daycare (too expensive to ruin!!) and wears very "normal" boys clothes a lot.  However, there are times when I want him to look sweet and a little more "dressed", and I don't find anything wrong with that. 

(bad picture, adorable outfit!)

I've heard it from some of my extended family "Oh, AEOT's got Spence in a dress again."  I've heard it from B's family, "Seriously, don't they make, like, regular collars?".  I heard it from a woman at church who asked my what my child's name was (essentially because she couldn't figure out why a boy would be wearing an outfit like the one he wore to church)(which was sweetly balanced out by a very darling grandmother who told my husband how sweet his baby boy looked in his cute outfit!).  And I've heard it from others "Oh, he's a boy?" when he's wearing something a little fuller (as above) or something smocked.

Yes, he's a boy.  Seriously, dude, my son has the BEST hair (not to brag but for a 15 month old he has his daddy's really good hair), and if he were a girl, don't you think he'd have bows in it?  And not a bowl cut?  And he'd be in an actual DRESS?????  Shortalls snap at the crotch and have legs.  They are NOT dresses. 

I want my baby to be a baby for a year or two or three.  Is that too much to ask?  Is it really that odd that I don't dress him exactly like my husband?  He has the rest of his life to dress like his daddy.  Yes, he looks cute in a button down and cords, but he looks much sweeter in his smocked longalls and peter pan collars.  And that sweetness will go away soon enough.  Why do people feel the need to rush him through this sweet, innocent baby stage? 

Listen, I don't care what you dress your kid in as long as said child is clean, so let me do my thing too.  You want your baby in skull and crossbones?  Go for it (Gap did it well last year)!  You want your kid in a sport jersey all the time?  I can totally respect that (though I may not respect your teams ;)).  Your favorite kiddo's outfit says "I dig my mom" or "Daddy's little pumpkin".  Totally cool.  It's your sweet babe, and you are picking out the clothes that you think are cute because you know that in 4 or 5 years, you will have very little control over what he will wear (it'll only be the Superman tshirt that he has worn every day for the past week or the shirt that is getting way too small but is the favorite) and so you have to get it all in now while you can.  Well, that's all I'm doing too.  And, honestly, I'm going to do it no matter what others say, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt my feeling at times. 

Moral of this (very long, very ranty) story?  If we have 2 or 3 more children and they're all boys, I'm going to have to convince B to move down south where momma's believe in smocking!!