I view my job of mother as that of encourage. I try my best to encourage my girls to love the things I do. I may have a thing against ‘girl toys’ but as long as they’re not really hurting anything, I hold my tongue. The girls are allowed to have their own interests. They’re allowed to like girlie things.

Back at Nicki’s old day care there was a teacher who would paint all the little girls’ (and some of the little boys) nails. One afternoon Nicki came running up to me, hand fully extended to show me her new artwork. Her teacher had given her a little smilie face on one nail. Nicki was in love and wanted all her nails done. How could I say no?

Pink Glitter. So much better than the pepto bismol esque Barbie color

Painted finger nails on toddlers is not my cup of tea. I’m not a make up person, even as an adult. Photography is my thing. I take a lot of photos. Even though getting her nails done was a rare treat, I soon found my photos filled with orange, green, & pink nails. I was comfortable removing Nicki’s nail polish for big events, like Christmas and visiting Santa, but it didn’t seem right to ask Nicki to remove her nail polish every Friday because there might be an adorable moment I wanted to capture on the weekend.

Enter glitter nail polish.

Purple Glitter

I knew she would love glitter nail polish from the start. What I didn’t know was that glitter polish can be incredibly subdued. The white glitter polish and pink glitter polish are hard to notice in photos. Even the purple glitter in the above photo isn’t that noticeable, for being, you know, purple. Nicki gets “sprinkles” on her nails, and I get the photos I want.

Of course she has the other non-glitter variety sometimes too.

My two year old cracks me up. This weekend we went to Target looking for some oversized sweaters to use while doing maternity photography among other things. Nicole was sitting in the front of the cart while Domingo pushed. I found a pink one I liked, and went to put it in the cart. “Don’t like it!” she insisted as she stretched out her hand to block its entry into the cart. I tried to explain it was for me, but she was not having it. “Don’t like it!” She repeated.

I thought I’d have a few more years before my children start criticizing my fashion sense.

Nicole’s favorite color these days is loud. She loves neon green and orange. The brighter the better, especially if there are multiple colors. Especially, especially if they clash. She likes sparkles but not ruffles, and definitively not tulle of any kind. Fortunately for her, that’s the kind of stuff that seems to be in style these days. For daycare she can wear what ever she wants to wear. The probability of my kid finding the one permanent marker is proportional to the newness of the clothes. That lime green giraffe shirt? I don’t sweat as much. (And to be fair, neither does she.)

Fashion is not something I excel at, so I do little cheats. I buy white socks since they match anything (and, bonus, there’s no hunting down the missing matching sock when they all match!) Dark denim goes with anything. I will even buy multiples of a shirt I like. Sometimes even in the same size if it’s cheap enough. I figure there’s no fundamental difference between buying a $5 shirt I like and a $5 one I don’t verses two of the same $5 one. It’s the same number of clean shirts, and the same cost.

Some of my favorite clothes for Nicole have come from the boys section. I like her curious George shirt with the flap. Down, George is hiding in a paint can. Pull the flap up and he pops out! I like her mickey mouse shirt. I like simple colors with understated designs. I like the way they fit better. Girl shorts are short, even for two year olds. I find diapers and bare baby bums to be the most adorable things ever. Until they’re hanging out of a pair of too short shorts.

Maybe I shouldn’t be too surprised she has an opinion on my clothes shopping. After all, what do I know about style? Nine days out of ten I’m wearing a free conference t-shirt for a company that went out of business years ago.