This is a tough one, because no mom wants her child to be humiliated. On the other hand, wouldn't it be great for a child to have the inner confidence to express his or her self, no matter the haters? Our son is only in preschool, but he and his father had a struggle one morning because it's so important to Dad that clothes match (he's borderline OCD!) but our son wanted to feel independent by picking out his own clothes. Since then, our son has been allowed to choose his own outfits, and he's always so proud to point out how he matched them accurately. It gives me a little twinge, because I hope we haven't imposed our own value judgments on his developing psyche. I don't want to pressure him to conform in any way other than the necessity for courtesy and respect in dealing with other people. But again, you can't count on other people to extend the same respect to your child, and a child in pain is agony on Mom!
This is a tough one, because no mom wants her child to be humiliated. On the other hand, wouldn't it be great for a child to have the inner confidence to express his or her self, no matter the haters? Our son is only in preschool, but he and his father had a struggle one morning because it's so important to Dad that clothes match (he's borderline OCD!) but our son wanted to feel independent by picking out his own clothes. Since then, our son has been allowed to choose his own outfits, and he's always so proud to point out how he matched them accurately. It gives me a little twinge, because I hope we haven't imposed our own value judgments on his developing psyche. I don't want to pressure him to conform in any way other than the necessity for courtesy and respect in dealing with other people. But again, you can't count on other people to extend the same respect to your child, and a child in pain is agony on Mom!