Are preschoolers a tough crowd these days? Do they actually pay attention to what the other kids are wearing? And worse, do they comment about it?
I find it hard to believe, but either that is the case or my daughter is losing her mind.
Kate’s now in her last semester of preschool (do preschools have semesters? Probably not. In any case, she’ll be done in the spring), and she is so worried about what she wears and what the other kids will think. When I stop to ponder it, it really kind of freaks me out. But in the morning when we’re trying to get out the door, it just annoys the crap out of me.
She is convinced that the other kids are going to make fun of her or laugh at her if she wears this shirt and not that shirt, this color instead of that color, these shoes and not those shoes. Truly, I don’t know how much stock to put in this worry. Is this her almost-five-year-old self-centeredness shining through? (Surely there’s a term to describe whatever stage of development she’s in, but it escapes me). If that’s the case, if the threat of being made fun of is something she worries about but isn’t actually going to happen, it almost seems easier to deal with. But even if that is the case, is it real to her? I guess that would still call for some compassion. (And I wasn’t feeling a whole lot of compassion for the girl who fuh-reaked out this morning because she wanted to wear and orange shirt – and not a red shirt – to her Valentine’s Day party today).
Or is it real? Like really real?
Please tell me it doesn’t start this early. Please, please tell me that she’s not getting made fun of. About her clothes, for the love of God. And please tell me she’s not making fun of anyone else.
