‘Pretty Like Mommy’: Stop Forcing Your Children To Compliment You With Their Clothing

pretty like mommyIn general, I have a personal issue with clothing that has writing on it. Even if the writing is clever, I can’t ever imagine walking around, expecting people to read off of my chest. Let’s not even get started on pants with writing across the ass. Those Juicy pants are the uniform in my personal hell. But there’s one trend in clothing writing that has me more perplexed and annoyed than any other. It’s all of the, “Cute Like Mommy,” and “My Daddy’s A Rockstar” nonsense going on babies’ onesies lately. I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why parents need to be complimented by their infant’s clothing.

I know this trend isn’t exactly new. There were plenty of self-congratulatory clothing for parents to buy their kids when I had my daughter four years ago. I always felt like the onesies weren’t really made for parents. They were made for friends and family to buy as gifts, so they could praise the parent while providing something for the newborn. I thought the idea was sweet, but I always tucked away the onesies in the back of a drawer. I couldn’t imagine taking my daughter to a family get together in a shirt that says how great I am. Talk about narcissistic, right?

Now, I feel like the “I’m such an awesome parent” clothing has just gotten so out of hand. It’s everywhere. Children’s clothing is complimenting the little one’s grandparents, aunts and uncles, and siblings. Can’t the kid just be cute in their own right? Do they have to be constantly lifting up the whole family? That’s a lot of pressure to put on your newborn.

As my wonderful co-worker Carinn Jade pointed out, we already know that your child is like you. It has your genes. It probably will resemble you, in some way, shape or form. So if your child really is the “Queen of Cuteness,” we’ll already assume it’s because the kid has attractive parents that passed along some wonderful genetic luck. Your infant’s clothing doesn’t have to tell us how reproduction works.

Of course, there’s a whole different issue with these little onesies. Almost all of them refer to girls as “Pretty Like Mommy” and boys as “Smart Like Daddy.” The value we place on different qualities for different genders is apparent even before your baby can form words or see more than a few feet in front of his or her face. Another disturbing trend is to see things like, “If you think I’m pretty, you should see my mom.” Apparently, children need to compete with their moms for attention from the womb on.

Listen, babies are adorable creatures. Baby clothes are just about the most aww-inducing things on the planet. Let those clothes be cute for cute’s sake. It doesn’t need to tell the world how great you are. Raise an awesome kid, and everyone will figure it out!

(Photo: Stage Stores)

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