Her First Bow

I am not a girly mom; I have been used to parenting boys for the past 6 1/2 years. I have become accustomed to picking out a pair of jeans or shorts and throwing them together easily with a tee shirt or polo. The boys only own about 3-4 pairs of shoes at a time: tennis shoes, church shoes, sandals, and cleats (during soccer season). When the boys' hair begins to get long enough that we actually need a comb, then I know it's time for a haircut! I have been living in the world of primary colors, superheros, TMNT, Power Rangers, plastic swords and pretend guns, bugs, and Star Wars for the past several years, and I've loved it.

When we found out that Arden was going to be a girl, I was thrilled. I thought that was a perfect way to complete our family, so that we could experience both genders. Stuart was in shock for the first few weeks, as all he could think about was how expensive a girl would be. He was already contemplating how we would afford her prom dress and wedding before she was even born. I thoroughly enjoyed decorating a "shabby chic" nursery, complete with vintage florals and pink toile. I admit it -- I decorated the nursery for me. She will never really care what the room looked like, and she will never remember it. I loved picking out the pink fabrics and fulfilling my dream of a feminine room (see posted pictures).

Now . . . I am trying to figure out the clothing arena. There are so many choices with girls' clothes! Why do all the children's stores and boutiques allot 3/4 of the store to the "pink" section, and only have two racks of boys' clothes? Why do little girls have more shoes than I own? Why do girls need purses at the age of 3 and before they even have lipstick, cell phones, or wallets to put in them? What exactly do you do with leggings? I am still a bit confused by all of this.

Arden is now 4 months old. This seems like a big milestone where she is exiting the newborn stage. She is awake a lot more during the day, and last week she started going to Mother's Day Out at a nearby church on Tuesdays. She is already growing up. To commemorate this milestone, I decided to buy Arden her first bow. I had shied away from bows until now. It's not that I'm ethically opposed to them or anything, but I'm just so practical that I really didn't see the point since she has no hair. I didn't want anything that was "fussy" when I could barely get the basics like feeding and bathing accomplished. Now, after my first two nights of solid sleep, I felt empowered to branch out. I walked into The Toggery boutique and got a lesson on how to attach bows to a stretchy headband. The nice saleslady enjoyed teaching me how to layer bows (layering? who knew?) and the different ways they can be used on headbands, with ponytail bands, or in hair alone. I left the store with my purchase and felt much more prepared to mother a girl.

Arden looks adorable in her headband with little bow. For now, she is happily leaving it on her head, and I can enjoy feeling that I've accomplished the first rite of passage for moms of girls. Thankfully, I can worry about braiding hair later!