What not to wear...

My wife enjoys a show on one of the chick channels called "What NOT To Wear", hosted by a guy named Clint and a gal named Stacy. My wife has said, (on more than one occasion), that they need to come up with a new version of the show just for me called "What NOT To Dress Your Baby Daughter In".

Now first off, I'm a guy. Jeans with out stains and a t-shirt that doesn't smell or have spills on it is completely acceptable attire. And if I am not taking Sophie out in public, I believe the same rules apply. Well, not so. Everyday her outfit has to have colors and they have to match. No mixing of stripes and plaids, and the shirt has to haved the exact color of the the pants at least one time, if not predominantly.

I will admit it - I am not fashionista (my wife's word not mine), and it is difficult to apply a different set of rules to Sophia than to me. I could probably dress myself a little better, but if no one is going to see me other than the back door neighbors when I stick my head out the door to yell at the dogs for howling at either sirens or F-15's as they cruise overhead, what's the big deal.

I do even worse in dressing Sophia than normal when I try to apply my wife's rules. The most recent time I dressed her in what I thought was a short sleeved shirt with green and white checkers as trim and some green and white checkered bloomers. Well, the greens, to my wifes opinion, did not match because the checkers on the shirt were faded green and the bloomers were bright green. They were the same color when I washed them (and no, I did not use bleach). So we now have a 15 minute session each evening before putting Sophia to bed, where I first pick out what I am planning on dressing her in the next day, and receive a lecture on why that is not the "best choice". Then, my wife picks out an appropriate outfit for the following day. I think I am getting better at selecting clothing for my daughter, but my wife thinks that I have been hard-wired and that the process is mostly hopeless for me.

The only times I do well is when I remember clothes that came together, like a shirt and pants that were on the same hanger in the store, when we purchased them, or match up the Garanimals on the clothing tags. Thank goodness for Garanimals. When I was a kid growing up, I thought that was a cool idea that Sears had, and they have now migrated to the store where we buy most clothing for Sophia, Wal*Mart. What would we be with out WallyWorld? I guess just a bunch of dads that dress their children in mis-matched clothing.

I will keep practicing and who knows maybe someday soon I will get it, but for now I am resigned to taking instruction and replying "Yes Dear". That way I can most always get the last word in.

More in the adventures of Sophie soon.