I’ve organized a few closets for clients’ little boys, and I am amazed at how many ties, button-down shirts and blazers they have. We are talking first, second grade boys here.
“Do they like wearing this?” I always ask the moms.
“No,” is always the answer.
So why do you have it?
Your elementary school aged boy does not need ties or jackets — even for fancy events. Please stop making them suffer by forcing them to wear this. No one expects your child to dress like an adult.
I have taken my son to a wedding in a cotton, collared shirt, shorts and tennis shoes. Here he is headed to watch “The Nutcracker” in a T-shirt and tennis shoes:
Here he is wearing a collared shirt and soccer pants to synagogue for Rosh Hashanah — one of our biggest holidays of the year.
I refuse to put him in something that makes him miserable. Plus, by letting him be, I don’t have to buy and store all the dress-up stuff for the two times a year he’d be forced to wear it.
And I know why you do it. You are so afraid others will judge you because your son showed up to a wedding, the professional ballet or a house of worship with soccer shorts on.
You know what I say? I don’t care what other people think. That’s their problem. My son is comfortable and not hating me for making him put on a ridiculous outfit for a 7 year old.
Of course, this won’t last forever. I will teach him he has to wear a suit for the job interview, the wedding and the funeral. He’ll have to wear something nice to his bar mitzvah. (I still may not make him wear a suit.) But he can learn those lessons when he’s 16 or even older. He is 7 and does not have to do it now.
So do me a favor. Go kiss your little boy and get rid of the ties, shirts and jackets. Just let him be.
PS — I don’t mean to gender stereotype, but usually it’s no problem getting a little girl to dress up. In fact mine is usually way over dressed. But if you have a girl who does not like to wear dresses, the same rule applies. Let them wear what they want.