We had a truly beautiful and perfect Fall day recently, so we decided to take advantage. We have had such a thick patch of bad weather that we can now fully appreciate a beautiful day when we do get it.
It really makes for a nice backdrop for our Teen Fashion shoot, featuring my daughter’s unique style.
So we took advantage of it completely and took a scenic walk through the park, what a great backdrop to this beautiful outfit my daughter has styled.
We stumbled upon this dress when we were out looking for a Halloween costume. She kind of wanted to be a witch but at the same time, it had to be a unique yet oddly specific type of witch, the kind you can’t find anywhere so you are forced to enter the dreaded Halloween specialty store.
You know the store I am talking about, the one that pops up seemingly out of nowhere and is now in a location that you know used to be something else but just can not remember what it was. They use arrows and sometimes hire a real go-getter to hold a sign pointing to it.
The one here in Cedar Rapids has the arrows to direct you to the store but they are all facing the wrong way. Unfortunately, we did find the place and they had a terrible selection despite only being open for a couple of days so we were forced to keep shopping.
You could imagine how stoked I was to head over to yet another store looking for this elusive witch costume that may or may not exist.
So, we headed to another store and that is where we found this dress. It reminded us of something Lucy Ricardo would wear when going out to the Club Babalu with the Mertzes or something Samantha from Bewitched would wear and since she is a witch, it seemed perfect, we now have another piece to the costume puzzle.
We decided that we would plan a Fall Teen Fashion shoot when the weather cooperated. I started wondering if this was going to have to wait until next year but then we had a beautiful day with nothing planned.
A few days back, I was out shopping and I caught a glimpse of a good deal on a beautiful red sweater from across the entire store.
When I spotted this beautiful red cashmere sweater set, I knew my daughter would love it so I picked it up, not knowing she would pair it with the dress but I love the way these two pieces compliment each other.
She has always been a fan of clothes and accessories, especially when she was little, we could never get her to stop wearing her princess dresses. Even on a trip to the grocery store which prompted people to compliment her for being a princess, she didn’t like that they acknowledge her outfit, she just wanted to be a princess in her own little world.
She didn’t need a stranger’s kind words or approval of her look, I have always admired that about her although at the time I encouraged her to say thank you in that situation, it just seemed rude not to.
Years later, she went through a phase where she wasn’t really that into dresses but I blame that on the soulless corn children who gave her a hard time at school when she would wear one. At the time, she didn’t stop wearing them. She is far too headstrong to change for someone else, but I think the negativity has seeped into her mind at times unknown to her.
I like to think she got her relentless stubborn nature from me, it comes in handy when dealing with bullies. She is navigating the teenage cattiness really well and constantly surprises me on how well she can let things bounce off these days.
Being a kid is hard though, growing up these days may have its advantages but it has its share of drawbacks as well.
Bullying has gotten worse than ever before because when a kid leaves school, it is no longer the end of their daily misery, thanks to the internet, it continues at home.
It is harder than ever to let things go and avoid the bullies with social media allowing people a platform for spreading hate faster than ever before. Kids are using apps to gang up on each other and spread rumors or embarrassing photos, outing each other and just being terrible human beings who thrive on spreading hate.
Parents are not paying attention, this is an obvious problem that we can all agree on but what a lot of parents refuse to see is how they are setting this example for their kids. When they comment on an article or tweet a reply to something a celebrity said, or on an ad they see on Facebook, sharing their mean words that they feel has no consequence, gives their children the idea that this behavior is alright.
Kids will ALWAYS emulate what their parents do, it is an unarguable fact, you are your child’s biggest role model, work harder and set a good example instead of adding to the rude culture we have come to accept.
We live in a time where we celebrate loose morals, show a lack of manners and people have somehow brought rudeness to a whole new level with things like ghosting becoming a common behavior. We have taught our children that there are no consequences to their actions, especially on the internet.
It is obvious that there are consequences to our actions, we just refuse to see it sometimes. As parents, the consequence is that your children are learning your behavior and they are acting just as selfish or as selfless as you, following your example, good or bad.
It takes more time and effort to do the right thing, to be a good parent, and to be a good person. Parenting was never supposed to be easy, stop making excuses for your behavior and set an example so your kids can be the best they can be.
If you are lucky, you will watch your children become their own people without letting anything hold them back. You may even start to learn from them and be amazed at what they are capable of doing with their lives. There is nothing more satisfying to me than being proud of the person that I had a hand in creating.
She has become quite the fashionista and is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside, she deserves the world, I just wish it deserved her.