to feel a little disheartened about this?

[crazylizzy]

ok, so nothing major, but I've recently noticed how sometimes little effort parents put into dressing their kids for other kids parties?

Back in the day, our mums would dress us in our best dresses, matching ribbons, tights, newly polished shoes, do something pre-planned with our hair (tiny plats all night, leaving a crimped look, oh man - retro), but now all I seem to see are trainers, jeans and a top, and that's just the girls

Last week my kids were invited to a 5th birthday party, as were my friends kids, she offered a lift, and at picking us up, I noticed her kids still in their gym kit (tracksuits and trainers), I commented if they'd just come straight from the lesson and my friend answered no, the class was earlier that afternoon, and they'd come from home.

AIBU to feel disheartened about how times change and still send my kids to birthday parties in their Sunday bests?

In my experience it gets harder as they get older too. When the dses were little, I chose their clothes, and even when they were choosing their clothes for normal every day wear, I chose their special occasion outfits - but now they insist on having opinions of their own!!!

I suppose it's all to do with the rise in organised parties at sports centres and soft play. I love my boys getting dressed up and agree it gives them a sense of occasion. Tracksuits a plenty at the last wedding we went to.

I think YABU for thinking it's a problem although I do agree with the principal of it.
Each to their own for me personally but I do get the dc's dressed up for parties.
I think it's nice they both enjoy it and they look lovely.
The little girls that dd are friends with are the same.
Even soft play parties it is jeans but I do try to do her hair nice and put on a party type top with them. DS wears trousers and a shirt to parties and when he remembers he has it his little waistcoat.

I like to dress up and look nice and for me that is fun as I don't do it to that extent very often and for dd and ds that is half the fun of being invited to a party as well.

And as for weddings, well then you are NBU at all!!! Tracksuits at a wedding...

Just a matter of keeping a sense of persective with the particular event.

Mine have designer jeans and shirts for formal stuff, with Nike or Adidas tracksuits for softplay etc. Not just any tracksuit.

I had a dark green velvet dress with a white lace collar from the Freemans catalogue.

My friend had a lacy yellow dress with a picture of Holly Hobby on the front - it was fab .

I dress mine up, as do a few other mothers i know but most send them in their normal clothes and it is a bit sad.

It's an excuse to buy the nice clothes that are too good for daily wear but you just can't leave the shop without

Whenever I buy nice things for the boys, they either ruin them or grow out of them. But there is no way I'd let them go to something like a wedding in everyday clothes! Though I did go to a friend's wedding where her daughters, who were bridesmaids, got changed at the reception into scruffy trackies/jeans and t-shirt!

We had party shoes when I was young- Mary Jane typ things, in gold or silver glitter. And they were worn with long dresses (although I had to wear a long skirt and top my mother made me )

But then my dad bought me a bee-yoo-tiful swishy, velvet and lace knee length creation. It probably still counts as my best dres ever.

As the mother of 2 boys there isn't much in the way of party wear and I have enormous difficulty bullying persuading ds1, 13, into wearing anything other than tracksuit trousers. He's not even keen on jeans and don't get me started on 'proper' shirts as opposed to t-shirts or polo shirts.

Sigh. Still, at 13 there aren't many-if any- parties any more and ds2 is still too young for them. He might be more amenable to a proper shirt and decent trousers....

Hmm. Missing an e and an s. If anyone sees them, let me know.....

ATM by DD's 'best' clothes are a pair of spotty converse, her new Gap jeans and a pretty top that her friend gave her for her b'day. So if she scrubs up a bit and wears those she is dressing up. She has a few pretty dresses and she looks lovely in them but she doesn't like wearing them and they would stupid and impractical for soft play or running around in.

DS1 refuses to go to a party without his 'party clothes' on. He wears a short sleeved shirt, jeans and converse...which I think looks smart, but is comfy enough to run/tumble about in.

I HATED HATED HATED being dressed up in party dresses as a child. Yes sure my parents (and all the other adults) thought I looked lovely, my friends didn't care less and I hated it.

Each to their own, but I like mine dressing up nicely for parties and they seem to like it too. DS has a couple of nice button up shirts that were hand me downs from friends and he loves going to a party looking all smart in Big Matthews Shirt or whatever. Although obviously for soft play parties with preschool mates, he could not possibly wear anything other than a Ben 10 tshirt.

I don't like the identikit tacky sparkly pink princess dressing up outfits though, although I realise this is something I can't avoid for ever.

Best of all though, I like fancy dress parties, I LOVE it when people specify fancy dress. DD is having a scarecrow party soon - so they can all dress in rags and bits of straw (credit crunch chic)!

yes I seemed to like it as well, but that's because I did as I was told and knew that if my parents said I was wearing X I was wearing it - until I hit my teens and I rebelled and wore jeans and trousers all the time

sunday best

yabvu

That sounds rubbish for you, as a child. My children make it quite clear if they don't want to wear something, and I am laid back about what they choose, so maybe thats why they like the party stuff as its a nice balance of all sorts of outfits over time. e.g. Last time we went shopping one was dressed as a fairy/angel and the other as a leopard. Quite often DD 'dresses up' as DS and vice versa which is highly amusing!

I went to school with a couple of girls not allowed to wear trousers, it seems so mean, and so pointless.

christ are people snobby about what kids wear for parties too?

I'm seriously going off mumsnet, it makes me qiute depressed, I always feel like I'm doing enough for my kids when I look at posts like these.

NOT doing enough

Generally speaking I try to get my boys into smarter cords and shirts for parties so a bit smarter than usual but still relatively practical. Ds1 is generally compliant and likes it. Ds2 since he was 4.5 stamped his foot and announced that he would be wearing his favourite clothes as he felt this was more honouring to the party giver - it's a mark of esteem to be graced with the presence of the most favoured garment (Spiderman t-shirt...). Who could argue?

Where is the snobbishness?

DD is nearly 4 and current party wear for all small girls is dresses. May be disney princess ones or not but they all seem to love wearing their "pretty dresses"

sheepgomeep - why on earth do you think I'm being snobby? I merely made a comment about feeling slightly disheartened at the fact that times change, which I accept by all means. I'm not having a god damn dig at anyone or their parental skills

DD has a party dress. She loves dressing up. If it stopped her charging around the place and having a good time then I might be bothered, but it doesn't. Children only stand at the sidelines so as not to damage their best clothes if that is what they think they should do. DD thinks her dress is for parties, so she parties in it .

I used to love it when my DD went to parties and wore lovely dresses, matching shoes and hairclips. People used to comment on how nice she looked. Now she is 8, and everything has to be 'funky' or is looked down on. Oh for the good old days!