to be a bit uncomfy with 2yo DD wearing jewellery and so much pink?

[LissyGlitter]

my 2.5yo DD has recently found a silver chain bracelet that my sister gave her when she was a baby and now wants to wear it all the time. As kids jewellery goes, it is pretty tasteful, I just can't shake the idea that it looks a bit trashy for a girl so young to wear jewellery in a non dressing up context. But then does it really do any harm?

She is also just starting to show a preference for pink. God knows where she got that from, we tried our best! ATM it's a toss up between black and pink for her favourite colour, and she has started announcing that she is a princess. I thought we could avoid this until she got to school at least! She only watches BBC programmes on TV, and then in very limited quantities (until about two weeks ago we didn't even have a TV!) and isn't really old enough to have meaningful conversations with other children at playgroup. All her books are carefully screened to make sure they are suitable for a guardian reading child. Her toys are pretty evenly divided between things like bricks, aeroplanes and farms and dolls and dressing up clothes.

I don't want to oppress her if that really is how she wants to be, but how do I make sure she isn't being pressurised by the media somehow?

"All her books are carefully screened to make sure they are suitable for a guardian reading child."

My god woman, how clever is she?

It's just a phase, she'll outgrow it and start climbing trees soon enough.

well unless your reading her Vogue magazine or putting her in front of the tv to watch the clothes show (is that even on anymore?) then i think it unlikely that its the media's influence.

I think you'll find that she is just a typical little girl who wants to be a princess.
its all very normal

Not at all unusual, I have the style and beauty of Dandy Nichols, yet dd decided she was a princess at about the same age as yours. She would only wear either pink or pink and purple and one item of clothing just had to be Hello Kitty. She's outgrown all that now and absolutely refuses anything pink, frilly or girly. Conversations I've had with other mothers have convinced me that girls have a component of their brain that favours pink. When ours was a small baby to toddler she didn't even own a pink item of clothing.

I'd perhaps be tempted to get her a more todddler-appropriate tacky plastic beaded dressing-up bracelet instead of letting her wear actual bling...

She probably just wants to be what she perceives as 'grown up' - to a toddler, that is wearing jewellery and prancing around in frocks.

Pmsl at Gruniad reading child.

I bloody hate pink and girly stuff, though I was fairly into it as a kid.

She will see stuff all around her that will make her pick this fluffy stuff - other people, shops, even - shock! - CBeebies.

Perhaps leave some gothic literature around and play some MCR or similar to encourage the black wearing.

sorky, lol, I did think it was an odd phrase when i typed it but couldn't think how else to put it! She does like to "read" the supplements that me and DP aren't reading though

The pink, imho, is not reserved for girls. At this age each of my boys and nephews have favoured pink.

Too right, sorky.
Ds loved pink when he was about 2. Now he is at nursery and proclaims everything pastel coloured to be 'for girls'. Pink was the colour for boys until Victorian times anyway. Nothing inherent about it, imo. They pick up on every little thing.

If the silver bracelet is child-safe (ie no beads to swallow or sharp bits) and not so valuable that its being lost or broken would be a big deal, let her wear it if she wants to. If it's a family heirloom with scratchy fittings and diamond bits in, get her some sort of plastic-on-elastic number, or preferably a bangle so that she can play with it and not risk herself.
As to the pink, if she goes to nursery or preschool then she's getting it from the other DDs there (not in conversation but in seeing other children wearingpink things).. She'll either grow out of it or become a deliberately vapid dizzy bunnywabbit girlie in her teens purely to wind Guardian-reading Mum up.

I remember being mildly annoyed when my DD became pink and glittery tat obsessed at a similar age to your DD. However now aged 5 my DD says she hates pink as is "babyish" and "not like Hannah Montana" and I feel sad...

I did snort tea out of my nose @ 'All her books are carefully screened to make sure they are suitable for a guardian reading child'

Seeing past the slighty pretentious tone to your post, I would say really don't worry. We have always tried to choose gender neutral toys/clothes and DD (3) still wanders around claiming to be a fairy princess. It's a phase that will pass. I look at DD and she is happy and imo I would do far more harm making her feel that she is 'wrong' or ill informed

Mine have dipped in and out of 'girly' phases, but at 9 & 11 don't care for pink and go their own ways with regard to clothes, music and so on, regardless of the influence of friends and media.

When DD1 was little, I was being a bit sanctimonious in Woolies about a Barbie in horrible stilettos that she wanted, and she said, 'It's only a toy, Mum'.

But anyway, keep her away from the Guardian fashion pages, unless you're loaded.