My 4-year-old daughter Paige spent 15 minutes this morning counting her shoes and figuring out which one was the ‘right pair’.  Why is it that she has to spend more time choosing shoes to wear than I do? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I work from home, so no one really sees me all day. Why put on fancy shoes? Flip flops will surely do. Won’t they? I guess if I have to leave the house I might put on a clog, a sneaker or a boot.  

What concerns me more than just her shoe fetish is Paige’s interest in clothes…dresses, jackets, and…jewelry? Yesterday as she was getting ready for school I asked her to put on her pants, but Paige informed me, “They are not pants mommy, they are leggings!”. Good grief, I was wearing leggings more than 20 years ago and I know what they are, however in my mind they are still pants! They cover your legs don’t they? I realized she is much more particular about her clothes than I am, even if she wears stripes and prints together.

Don’t get me started on the layering!  We live in Arizona, so why does she need so many layers? She puts on a long sleeve shirt, then she puts on a short sleeve dress over it. After that her precious leggings before she puts on a skort (you know, the skirt with the shorts included). The dress covers the skort, so I don’t know why she needs it but she definitely ‘needs it’ because she fights me if I say she doesn’t. Time to go to school now, so she must choose an appropriate jacket.”No not that one!, the Hello Kitty one!” she yells. As usual the Hello Kitty sweatshirt is stuck in the laundry so she has to settle for something else that doesn’t match either. Yes, although she is picky about the clothes, it is not clear she can see color very well. 

Paige loves color and not just pink and purple. Pick out the wildest patterned shirt and pants, then put them together. Isn’t that what everyone does?  The wild mixes are Paige’s ‘normal’ outfit and style. Every day I take her to school the teachers look at her and say, “Paige, what a ‘pretty’ outfit.” Outfit? If you didn’t know better, you would have sworn she was homeless based on her unmatched ensembles.

Well, at least she made it to school fully clothed and will certainly receive comments about her ‘outfit’ from the other moms as they drop off their kids. I like to think that if nothing else, Paige helps to provide a daily comic relief and something to look forward to. What will she wear today? Fortunately for today, she is already dressed. Tomorrow will be yet another opportunity for the creation of another bizarre outfit.