As a parent(s), we all naturally want the best for our children, and we love to spend money on our children's wardrobe and buying things that we as parents consider stylish. Today we want to talk about the benefits of giving the reins to our children when it comes to their clothing, and why we feel it is important!
Children's clothing is very subjective, and the children's fashion industry is divided. we as parents struggle on investing (yes, INVESTING) in our children's wardrobe because we struggle to find things that appeal to both us, and our children. We have our neutral basics in one corner, and our super colourful (some may even consider tacky) in the other. The truth is, a lot of parents haven't yet learnt the benefits of letting children pick and choose what they wear and what goes in their wardrobe and the benefits it has in their emotional development and wellbeing.
Encouraging self expression
We mustn't forget that clothing is in fact a powerful form of self-expression, and allows a person to be able to show who they are as a person, and that also goes for our children. By allowing our children to wear what they want to wear, we're allowing them to express themselves, and showcase their own unique little personality and individuality. Each child is drawn to different colours, themes, patterns and characters and this is them developing their interests, likes and dislikes and becoming their unique self. Allowing them to choose their wardrobe/outfit can help build their confidence and their identity.
Fostering decision making skills
Allowing our children the option to choose their outfit/wardrobe, we are allowing them to practice decision making in a low stake, trusting environment. This act should be small and simple, and teaches our children to consider and weigh options and make compromises (Example: seasonal weather, adding or removing layers). You can make the situation stress-free and not overwhelming by offering a smaller amount of options for your children to choose from. To round up, practising decision making in their clothing allows children to develop their decision making skills in other areas in their lives.
Building trust and developing your parent-child relationship
Allowing our children to pick their clothes and dress themselves sends a powerful message to even small children... that we trust them. Building trust allows them to build their confidence and really encourages their independence. Even the smallest of choices such as picking a pair of socks, or their own accessory can give a child a sense of accomplishment and autonomy over their own life. We can bond with our children by providing positive feedback about their choices (even if it wouldn't have been ours), and complimenting how they look.
Promoting comfort and wellbeing
Only the person wearing the clothes, will know best what feels more comfortable, and most children are great at expressing when they are in discomfort. Some fabrics might feel amazing, but could end up feeling itchy and scratchy when being worn, and some clothes may feel restricting. By letting them choose their outfit, we can allow and help them to be and feel comfortable with some compromises. This then follows back to better focus, and a better overall emotional wellbeing whilst providing confidence.
In our next blog, we will share some tips on how we can allow freedom in our children's wardrobe choices! But we hope what you've read you have found useful. Our children's health and happiness is the most important thing to us as parents, and even allowing our children to pick an outfit once a week will help develop our relationships and bring a positive impact to our children.
