Page 64 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2022

SHOPPING
story by Barbara Travis
Customize Your Kid’s Closet
What your kid needs in his or her closet is determined by age and activities, but many parents don’t realize that a winning strategy for avoiding what-to-wear battles with your little darling is customization. Customize to fit the child’s school, sport, and social activities along with personality, style, and color preferences. Since babies have no say-so in what they wear, we’ll skip right to toddlers and school-age kids. Once children become interactive mini-members of society, they quickly indicate their likes and dislikes. Listen and allow them choice and guided input for greater peace on the home front.
Don’t Overdo It
Growing kids need more than a minimal basic wardrobe because they’re constantly on the move running, playing outside, spilling things, having accidents, or simply changing clothes on a whim. Sounds like they need to have a lot – and some do – but having too many clothes can be as bad as having too few.
Keep in mind that children quickly outgrow clothes and
too many clothes take up a lot of space, create extra loads of laundry, and extras often get overlooked or tossed aside for one reason or another. Some hide in the back of the closet until the next season when they are discovered with tags still attached, though now too small for the child for whom they were bought.
A good rule of thumb is to plan for one outfit a day for a normal school or play day with backups in the car in case of food or other spills. Special occasion clothes can be purchased as needed.
Mix and Match
Let kids help choose their clothes. The have good imaginations, love participating, and need to learn about color and what goes best with what. Separates offer choices, and having choices makes for happier kids. Maybe they’ll come up with a creative combination you never thought about. You’ll also be helping
them develop their sense of pride, self-esteem, and style. Encourage them to think of how many ways they can put pieces together for different looks. Make it a game and shower them with praise for their creativity. Gently nudge, don’t judge!
Color and Costumes
Like their parents, kids have favorite colors and they’re usually of the bright and bold variety. If Mom buys her kids’ clothes strictly according to her own taste and preferences, then she should not be surprised when Little Susie puts up a fight when forced to wear that navy blue blouse and Little Tommy hides those brown pants.
Kids like color: let them choose their favorites, then focus
on those when you shop. Unless they have a required school uniform, you’ll be surprised how much faster, easier, and more pleasant getting them dressed on a hectic weekday morning can be.
Kids also love costumes, graphics, superheroes, princesses, glitz, and glitter. Don’t we all? From boys’ shirts, pants, pajamas, and underwear to girls’ tops, leggings, dresses, and accessories, anything and everything currently popular in the toy or children’s entertainment industry with a recognizable logo that can be imprinted on a clothing item is a can’t-go-wrong choice.
64 | April 2022
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