The Uniform

When Lucy was three-years-old, she went through a ballet leotard phase. She refused to wear anything but leotards. At first, we thought it would be just a short-lived phase. But as the weeks and then months went buy, we realized the leotards were there to stay and we tossed the grimy gray-pink leotard she'd been wearing everyday and bought her a variety of leotards - the standard pale pink, light blue, long-sleeved purple velvet, pink camouflage patterned. She became quite well known throughout town, especially when winter came and she walked around town in snow boots and a leotard. Several times that year, I'd introduce myself to someone and she'd say, "Oh, I know you. You're the mom with the little girl in the leotard."

Now Lucy is six-years-old and, unless she's in ballet class, she tends to prefer shorts and t-shirts to leotards. Her little sister, however, has just entered her own phase.

As you probably know from reading this blog, Noni is obsessed with princesses. We just returned from a trip to the park, where she proudly brought her Sleeping Beauty book from the library to show her friends. She has also recently taken to their attire.

Princess dresses aren't as easy to get around in as leotards. And when you are a two-year-old princess in Boulder, you have to be able to hike, ski, swing, trike, and even garden in your princess dress. So far, Noni seems to have managed, though we've had a few hair raising moments when her feet got caught under the dress on the ladder at the playground.

We'll see how long it lasts. A one dress obsession has its advantages. Less laundry. No drama in the morning about what to wear.

When I pause to consider why I have two daughters who have insisted on wearing the same thing over and over again for long periods of time, I shouldn't be surprised. Our family seems to gravitate toward wearing a uniform. I pretty much wore the same fleece, t-shirt, jeans and Uggs every day all winter. And when we lived in Los Angeles, Toby's officemates noticed that he wore the same thing so often that they decided to dress up as him on Halloween. He had no idea they would be doing that. And yet, he showed up at work that day in his predictable attire:

It would've been so much funnier if his uniform had been a leotard or princess dress.