Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Psychology of Fashion

Attachments to clothing is something I deal with constantly, not because I have an issue with it......but because my 6 year old daughter deals with it. Do they ever tell you in the parenting books the torture you feel you are inflicting on your child when you get rid of their favorite clothes? The bigger problem is, that with Jael, it's not just ONE article of clothing it's almost ALL of her clothing.

I finally had to go through her clothes a few days ago, because she is growing like a weed. Josh suggested we put her in a box, not because she wouldn't grow there.....but no one would see her jeans creeping to the top of her knees.

It seems like overnight she was outgrowing clothes. Most of the time, because of attachment disorders, I would just slip the outgrown clothes in our Goodwill bag. The problem this time was the amount of clothing that she has outgrown. We actually took some intervals during the cleanout session, JUST to make sure we were not going to burst into tears.

Our project left her with very few clothes that fit. In fact, I actually had to leave some in there, just to make sure she had some clothing to wear.

Yesterday I went to buy some clothes for her, and we have already started the attachment phase. She has REASONS for liking ever shirt she owns. The one she is wearing today reminds her of Papa, because it has a butterfly on it. Yesterdays shirt reminded her of Titi, because it's pink?? I have no idea where this comes from, because when it came to getting rid of shoes.......she was perfectly fine with those??

The torture is over............for NOW!! Until the next growth spurt, and I feel like a horrible mother for getting rid of the shirt that always makes her think of Papa.

4 comments:

Gombojav Tribe said...

Gotta find a way for her to keep the butterfly. Maybe she could cut up her favorite clothes and make a quilt or something. :-)

Make it a unit study or something. Have you seen the book "The Keeping Quilt"? A lovely Jewish true story of a quilt made from sentimental clothing.

You could read the book, make a quilt, and other projects you can think up from the book.

Leona said...

AHHH Jael, I feel your pain:( Its hard to let go, but remember THAT YOU ARE GETTING NEW stuff in replace of it! The fun part is shopping for the new stuff, do you take her with you OR let her shop on-line? Thats always fun;)

Anonymous said...

You ARE horrible! Poor Jael! ;-)

What size is she now? Maybe Titi will have to buy her some more pink clothes. :-)

Serena Abdelaziz said...

I have not seen the book "The Keeping Quilt," but I will look into it....for sure!

I did take her with me, but she really only got to pick one shirt. (the butterfly one) I gathered the most inexpensive ones, and then let her choose ONE of the $8.99 ones. :-) She has reasons for liking all the ones I picked; it's not like her taste is that different from mine. I know she enjoyed herself; she carried the bag. I did ask her if she liked everything...of COURSE! ;-)

Believe it or not every shirt was a large; I know the medium would fit her. BUT I would have to deal with her outgrowing them, in a few weeks. She has a long torso, so the medium are too short. I only had to "shrink" one shirt. (a large?) My guess is that they have to be a small large; you know how clothes are funny like that!