what not to wear, 5-year-old edition

Sarah is a real firecracker in the mornings. Especially when it comes to picking out her ensemble for the day. If left to her own devices, she would likely be wearing one of her two beloved hand-me-down dresses that I absolutely loathe and have declared to be pajama-worthy only. Another stellar possibility is a short sleeve t-shirt and short skirt. In December. On mornings such as this one, I gave her a number of complete outfit choices. I try to incorporate something she really likes with something she is not particularly fond of and that I really like in hopes that she will pick it due to the favored item. It doesn't work, but a mom can still try. After I assemble these outfits, she goes through and critiques them, explaining why they cannot possibly meet her fashion standards. Today's "what not to wear" critique went something like this:

• "I don't like pants."
• "I don't like long-sleeved shirts."
• "I don't like orange."

• "I don't wear collars."
• "It's too dark."
• "I don't like puffy sleeves."

• "I don't like collars."
• "I don't like puffy sleeves."
• "It has a heart on the shirt." You know, the heart that can't be seen because it is under the dress! I find this little quirk odd as there was a time (like last week) where she wouldn't wear a shirt unless it had some ridiculous embellishment like a heart or a jewel or some other such silly thing on it.

• "I don't like brown." Can you even see the brown?
• "I don't do long sleeves."

• "The shirt has jewels on it." Again, with the love/hate relationship with the jewels.
• "I don't like hoods."

• "I don't like stripes."
• "I hate that dress."
• "I don't wear blue."

The session generally ends with a pile such as this on the floor. What she finally came up with involves every shade of pink in the pink spectrum.