Just give them something warm to wear...

This post is going to leave me sounding like a real ol' fuddy duddy, and not a cool Mom - at all. But so be it!

Before I even begin, let me explain how lucky I think my little girls are to have a brand new wardrobe of clothes to choose from with each season. I'm currently on a cleaning spree and found clothes in my own cupboard that have been there since my very first permanent job - in about 1997! Now that's a long time ago! The dress still fits me but it's not exactly stylish :-) I digress - my point is that it has been a very, very long time since I had an entire wardrobe makeover. But, the kids grow so fast that the clothes they were wearing last winter will not fit this winter and so at the end of each season I give the old clothes away, scrabble some money together - hope that Granny and Nanna will do the same - and the girls each end up with a cupboard full of new clothes! Lucky them!

Now, I love for them to wear gorgeous clothes, make no mistake! E looks model-like in a long-sleeved, thigh-length, trim on the hem shirt, tight leggings and funky calf-high boots. J looks absolutely edible in a psychedelic orange tutu with spaghetti strap top to match - but let's get real...

Last night I caught the end of a talk show that airs every evening, the topic was the soon-to-be-released winter fashion for kids. Bo-ho for girls. Military for boys. Military for boys probably works - dark colours, lots of pockets and zips and badges. I don't have boys so I stand to be corrected. Bo-ho for girls is lovely, it's funky and it's pretty and it's colourful - but is it warm? Is it sensible?



When it comes to winter, all I really want is for the kids to be warm! Give me long vests that don't leave their tummies exposed while they sleep. Give me babygrows-with-feet for kids older than 24 months so that when they kick their blankets off they don't wake up freezing in the dead of the night (thereby waking me and making me clamber sleepily out of my own bed only to return shivering - I could actually do with some adult babygrows-with-feet for myself. Not very sexy, I know, but who cares about sexy when you're freezing! Oh yes - teenagers do! But I'm long past that age and have a long time until my girls get there!). Boots for a 2-year old! Have you ever tried getting those chubby feet into a pair of closed shoes, having to pull a zip up over over little ankles and then still expecting the child to be able to walk?  Scarves are sweet but not so sweet when caught on the rung of a jungle gym - with your child hanging from the other end! Sparkly hats are cool but wear them to school and they end up scrunched in a school bag - or left on the playground. Hoods for babies? Have you slept in a hooded jacket - turn your face to one side and you can barely breathe! Dungarees for a 3-year old - how quickly can you get her out of them when she needs to pee!! And my absolute worst - make the hole in the shirt/jersey/vest big enough so that the kid's head actually fits through it! I can't count the number of tops I've had to cut along the shoulder seam so that it can go over a head. It's not rocket science - and my girls do not have big heads!!

Give me beanies, tracksuits, cosy jerseys, jackets with wide sleeves and trainers - and let's see whose kids are warmest this year :-) Just because they're sensible doesn't mean they can't still be stylish!