Letting Their Personalities Shine … Even in Mismatched Clothes

This evening was the annual Lobby Lighting Ceremony at the Roosevelt, and I had really wanted our family to attend as we had in the past. It’s a fun, fancy little soiree with champagne, a special event. There is a countdown to turning all of the lights on, and the kids and adults alike oohhh and ahhh, making it the perfect start to the holiday season. Last year I was prepared, and my sweet family looked adorably fancy and appropriate for the event. 

However, this year we were not going to make it. We could not miss another gymnastics class, so we would just have to go another time. Yet on a whim, we ended up hastily throwing on clothes and scrambling downtown after school and work and gymnastics, and before we had even sat down to eat dinner. And boy did we look thrown together and kind of frazzled, and it made me cringe on the inside. But we smiled for a photo because it was nice to be together. I may already be plotting a more planned out night to visit several of the area hotels to see their lights, and by God, we will look put together.

I know that this absolutely only matters to me and is not a real problem. Not one iota of how we looked mattered to a single soul there, and we were greeted by welcoming faces. We had a lovely little family evening touring both The Roosevelt and the Saints’ holiday decor and are planning to visit more in the season. This is more so to say that the tides have and are changing in our household, and for me it is noticeable. I have been making my girls carefully coordinated, precious clothing with thought and love for over seven years, staying up many a night hovering over my sewing and embroidery machines.  I’ve been doing the same for your children for the last seven years as well. However, my girls are getting older and have developed their own individual personalities, and the clothing that mama makes does not cut it anymore. And that hurts my heart.

I love their blossoming personalities, even if some of it makes me cringe.

My eight year old is obsessed with the poop emoji. Yes, of alllllll the emojis out there, my child chose the poop as her latest and lasting craze. Her eighth birthday party was emoji themed with an emphasis on …. well, you get the idea. She would not even let her friends bust open the poop emoji piñata, as her heart could not handle breaking it. It is part of her room decor, much to my …. delight. My 6 year old believes she is in fact a unicorn / child hybrid, so if it has a horn and is sparkly, it is her favorite. (This is a slight step up from the poop emoji, I agree.) But all to say this is each of their individual personalities shining bright. I am sure there are things that I was crazed about at that age that made my mom confused and slightly horrified by. And I am not about to crush their spirit. Yes, I may be heaving big sighs on the inside, but the poop emoji Christmas ornament has been ordered and is on its way. It shall look … lovely next to the glass hot dog ornament that we got to commemorate the year our youngest daughter lived off of nothing but hot dogs.

I think you can love both sides equally. I loved, and still do, all the matching that I got away with for so long.

They were darling in their big bows and coordinated ensembles. When I knew there was an event of sort to attend, I planned their outfits in advance. These are the silly things I thought about, but starting and running a children’s clothing business will do that to you. I very much wanted my Instagram followers to see put together, matching children, as they were not only my children, but my first models of my business. I still get away with an occasional embroidered shirt, but they sure do squeal pretty loudly at anything from Old Navy or Target. The LOL doll love is real over here and it did make my heart happy to hear my youngest excitedly scream her delight when I recently surprised her with LOL doll panties. I’m fairly certain the neighbors heard it too!  I know it mattered not one bit to my girls tonight about what they were wearing. I did not utter a peep at the skirt over jeans and travel hand sanitizer bottle as an accessory of sorts. I did draw the line at open toe sandals though, because it was cold, and this mama does not need the extra judgement.

So I will continue to let them shine through their sparkly, character laden, poop emoji filled cringe-worthy phases, as that is part of growing up. Discovering who they are and what kind of person they want to be.  However, I will keep my fingers crossed that the next obsession will be poop-free.

Jessica
Jessica is a native New Orleanian, raising her two young daughters in Mid-City with her husband. After Katrina, Jessica ended up in Houston, Texas where she worked as a corporate event/party planner and met her native Houstonian husband. When they found out they were expecting their first child, they made the move back to New Orleans as Jessica had always wanted to come back home. Jessica is the owner and designer of Nolafionnah Custom Children's Boutique where she loves to design and make clothing for the special little ones in your life. On the weekends you can often find her at a festival, walking to local eateries in her neighborhood with her family, or enjoying a cold one at one of the family friendly breweries around town. Wine, Dateline, and Instagram are a few of her favorite things

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here