Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The High Price Of Innocence

I pride myself on saving money. We are not exactly rolling in the dough, so every dollar counts. Holly and I even joke about framing our receipts that show good deals. We are frugal, and we are proud.

Yesterday I went to Target with the intention of getting shoes for the boys and undies for Emma. When your daughter has red lines on her hips from too-tight undies, you know you need to do something. I found little girl's undies on sale, 9 pair for 6 dollars, WooHoo! But only in low-rise. Are. You. Kidding. Me. Low-rise undies for a four year old? There is not a snowball's chance in Lucifer's playground that I will buy low rise underwear for my FOUR YEAR OLD. Why, you ask? Because she is FOUR. That's why.

This is something I have been hearing a lot about lately, from friends and fellow bloggers. I had not quite believed it though, as I had not yet left the toddler section and bought undies in the girls section. I was shocked, and my husband was right there with me. There is no reason for our daughter to have low rise underwear, because she will not be wearing low rise jeans. SHE IS FOUR! The really hard part is, I will have a difficult time finding jeans that are not low rise as well.

What are we teaching our daughters here? Why must they look like teenagers at such an early age? Why do little girls need to grow up so fast? Why can't we let our little girls hang on to their little-girlhood, where they want to marry their daddies and believe in magic? We need to let our children just be children, and to wear clothing that lets them play on the swings and catch frogs without showing their qualifications for your next plumbing job.

I'll get down off my soapbox now.

We looked long and hard for undies with characters on them, but struggled to find any. Finally, in a far corner of the section, we found one style of princess undies. Seven pair for eight dollars. Not a deal by any means, but we bought them anyway. I purchased then with pride, even though the purchase went against everything in my frugal nature, even though I knew I could be paying less and getting more. But we were able to purchase something money can't usually buy. The chance for our little girl to stay little for a while longer.

And you can't put a price on that.

7 comments:

Snow Mommy said...

Amen sister!

Tricia said...

Uggg you have no idea how much I agree with this post. Im such a freak I even got onto my 9 year old about the dangly earrings my ex's girlfriend got her. Shes 9..where she going clubbing? I think not.

The Campbell Family said...

Ok but in defense of the 'low rise child panties' my niece wears normal jeans, and her undereverything shows every time she bends or anything. The pants just slide down her little body and there is everything for the world to see. I'd much rather have low rise panties than pervs checking out her undies!!

Love my babes said...

It is just a pain to buy clothing esp for little girls. They could even try sticking to childish clothing longer than putting them in pre-teen clothing WAY before their time. I do understand Campbell mom too b/c I have seen my daughters panties above her pants and that is a no-no too. Boys are way too interested way too long. Grrr.... What a pain it is to be modest these days. Good luck in your future shopping endeavors and know we all share your pain.

Anonymous said...

way to stand up for girls living life at the rate god intended!!!

Anonymous said...

No need to leave your soap box. It's about time someone got good and angry about the ridiculous clothes being marketed toward children. People in charge of designing children's clothes need a kick in the head. It wouldn't hurt for the purchasing department of clothing stores to feel it too. They could be buying regular, non-mini-teen clothes to provide in their stores, but do they? No. I know that they are available, if you look for them. I read an article once about some nine year olds who got fed up with the revealing, too mature clothing that was the only fashionable clothing provided in there local department stores. They started a letter-writting campain, and got the stores to start purchasing from suppliers who had fashionable, CHILDREN'S clothes, instead of the mini-teen stuff.

Aimee said...

A few years ago I saw something so disgusting in the children's department of a national chain (the 4-6X girls sizes!) that I had to immediately go find the department manager and give him a piece of my mind. It was underwear. Underwear with pictures of cherries on them and a little slogan saying "pop it!" Now I am willing (barely) to consider the possibility that the buyer didn't understand why these undies were so gross, but whoever came up with them is one sick SOB.