Kids Need to Be Kids
Last summer, after Eibhleann was born Walter’s then 8-year-old daughter came to visit and meet her new sister. We took her shopping for school clothes and it was an eye-opening experience for me on many levels. Kids’ clothes are ridiculously expensive. I remember shopping with my mom when I was young and I could get an entire new wardrobe for about $100. We spent soooo much more than that last summer for about the same amount of clothing. Actually, it wasn’t even the same amount of clothing in tangible material, just the same number of pieces. And, I can’t speak for boys’ clothes because we didn’t shop for any, but the girls’ clothing leaves a LOT to be desired.
We were in the kids’ and juniors’ sections of the stores that we went to and two things I noticed that really bothered me: little girls’ clothing is too revealing and I truly didn’t know how prevalent the obesity thing in kids is until I saw all the plus-sized kid sections. It took me a minute to understand what the “Plus Section” was. I haven’t been around a lot of kids in the past and I was shocked, to say the least.
What the hell are we doing to our children? Even this year we went to buy Walter’s daughter some clothes; it was no better. Maybe it’s just me (and it very well could be), but I absolutely refuse to buy a 9-year-old girl a pair of thong underwear or a “bare-midriff” T-shirt. Why would any fashion designer think those are acceptable items in which to clothe children?
Plus sizes for kids? That makes me want to cry. I’ve heard about the child obesity problem on the news, but it didn’t really dawn on me how bad it is until I saw the clothes. Children are the ones we as adults are supposed to envy for their metabolism and energy. How can this be? I think the problem might even be worse than just obesity, too. Ever since my eyes were opened last summer I have been paying more attention to what kids look like. Whatever happened to average or normal? We’ve been to the mall a few times in recent months and I’ve noticed that, especially with young girls, there seems to be a lot of either extreme – really, really skinny or overweight; but there are hardly any kids that just look healthy. Even my sixteen-year-old nephew is very self conscious about his weight. He thinks he could stand to lose a little and he’s a bean pole!
There are so many things that seem wrong nowadays. This, in particular, is heartbreaking to me. Children have so many other things going on in their lives trying to learn, grow, figure out who they are; worrying about their weight to such an extreme shouldn’t be one of them.
I guess I don’t really know where I’m going with this. I listen to stories about how life was when my grandparents were growing up, and my parents; and I remember how it was for me growing up. Now that I have my own child, I’m more sensitive to what’s going on in the world and things have changed so much just since I was young, and NOT in a good way. Kids need to be kids.
We were in the kids’ and juniors’ sections of the stores that we went to and two things I noticed that really bothered me: little girls’ clothing is too revealing and I truly didn’t know how prevalent the obesity thing in kids is until I saw all the plus-sized kid sections. It took me a minute to understand what the “Plus Section” was. I haven’t been around a lot of kids in the past and I was shocked, to say the least.
What the hell are we doing to our children? Even this year we went to buy Walter’s daughter some clothes; it was no better. Maybe it’s just me (and it very well could be), but I absolutely refuse to buy a 9-year-old girl a pair of thong underwear or a “bare-midriff” T-shirt. Why would any fashion designer think those are acceptable items in which to clothe children?
Plus sizes for kids? That makes me want to cry. I’ve heard about the child obesity problem on the news, but it didn’t really dawn on me how bad it is until I saw the clothes. Children are the ones we as adults are supposed to envy for their metabolism and energy. How can this be? I think the problem might even be worse than just obesity, too. Ever since my eyes were opened last summer I have been paying more attention to what kids look like. Whatever happened to average or normal? We’ve been to the mall a few times in recent months and I’ve noticed that, especially with young girls, there seems to be a lot of either extreme – really, really skinny or overweight; but there are hardly any kids that just look healthy. Even my sixteen-year-old nephew is very self conscious about his weight. He thinks he could stand to lose a little and he’s a bean pole!
There are so many things that seem wrong nowadays. This, in particular, is heartbreaking to me. Children have so many other things going on in their lives trying to learn, grow, figure out who they are; worrying about their weight to such an extreme shouldn’t be one of them.
I guess I don’t really know where I’m going with this. I listen to stories about how life was when my grandparents were growing up, and my parents; and I remember how it was for me growing up. Now that I have my own child, I’m more sensitive to what’s going on in the world and things have changed so much just since I was young, and NOT in a good way. Kids need to be kids.
Comment
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Comment by Amber on October 10, 2008 at 10:27pm -
I agree as well. kids should be kids no matter what. The right time will come when they become grown-ups its sad to realize that during their childhood days they don't feel like one.
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Comment by Katherine Green on October 9, 2008 at 12:15am - Totally agreed. Nice post! I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks!
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Comment by Anci on October 8, 2008 at 2:35pm -
''but I absolutely refuse to buy a 9-year-old girl a pair of thong underwear or a “bare-midriff” T-shirt. Why would any fashion designer think those are acceptable items in which to clothe children?''
I absolutely agree with you....when I was 9 I was still playing with dolls, I didn't even know what a thong was...I just can't believe that mothers would buy such a thing for their daughters.
That's exactly what I told my friend the other day when she asked me about how you raise a kid here, in the states...that kids here are or very skinny or overweight...you rarely see a normal looking kid...and I think that;s the parent's fault...they are the ones raising a child, they are the ones feeding him/her...I think we should look more into what our kids eat, because nowadays the food isn't what it used to be...And this food thing is starting to spread in Europe too...I mean, it's true that they eat way healthier than here, but things are changing there too...And our entire society it's having it's fault too here...we see every where, on tv ,in magazines, in adds, etc all these super skinny models...no wonder all teenagers want to be skinny...That's sad...
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