No, I'm not talking about bathing suits for myself. This image should show how I felt when I tried some on last week...
No, what I want to talk about is bathing suits for my daughters. I never thought I would spend as much time as I have thinking about bathing suits...especially to the point where I would blog about it!
When I was a kid I wore pretty skimpy bikinis up until about middle school. I really didn't understand why my mother forced me to stop wearing them, ha! [Mom, I finally understand!]
See? Skimpy! Also: look at how long my legs were as a kid! Also: Hi Drew!
But now as a mother to 2 young girls, I really debated bathing suits this year. For the longest time I wanted to buy Drew a bikini, and she never wanted one. This year she found a bikini she really liked, but then I waffled over it for a while. And this is where the overthinking happened... Would I be sexualizing my 5-year old by putting her in a bikini? OR do I just let a 5-year old be a 5-year old and get her the bathing suit she wants? Where do you draw the line? Would I be dressing her inappropriately? And why is it inappropriate? If not, when is it inappropriate? Why is it so haaaaaaard?
In the end I asked my BFF and my mother-in-law, and they both agreed the bikini was fine! She did, however, also pick out a tankini that I bought as well. Maybe that will ease my mommy guilt?!
Drew's suits - now you can see why I love the bikini! So cute! {grin}
I also gave away Paige's 12-month swimsuits thinking they'd be too small, but her 18-month ones are too big, so I had to buy her new ones as well. And she got a bikini and a one-piece, so they can match in their bending to the pressures of society!
Paigey's suits! The one piece for her gives me ALL THE FEELS though!!!!!
So if you didn't think I was crazy before, do you think so now?!
Girl moms - what's your stance on bathing suits?
7 comments:
I think the suits you chose are perfect! Alexandra only wore one-piece bathing suits until she was about 6. Then she wanted a bikini. Afterall, it's so much easier to take a restroom break in that right?! (Barring the children stop to take restroom breaks... :-/ I digress... Lol.) I always wore tiny bathing suits pre-child. With Alexandra, I try to choose something in between... a more modest bikini that she's comfortable wearing. Anyway, I think you did a great job choosing!
Rachel wanted a bikini last year. Before that she'd either had one pieces or a shorts and top type option. However, the one she found was navy with pink trim and white hearts and it was really cute.
The only reason she NEVER wore the top is because we have an outdoor pool (we NEVER swim indoors) and I always wanted her to wear a sun top to cover more. I don't know what she'll do in the future, by my main reason for not buying another bikini is because I'm lazy about sunscreen and she'll have better coverage with a full top.
I am also dying over how CUTE Paige's one piece is. Gah :)
All of those are adorrrrrable!!! I have had these mental debates about suits with myself as well. As cute as one pieces are, they are SUCH a pain for potty/diapers- they were a pain when she wore a swim diaper, they are a pain to pull up and down (when they're wet) to go to the bathroom. For that reason, I tend to gravitate towards tankinis- as cute as one pieces, but infinitely easier for potty breaks. So far all of Millie's two pieces have had very full-coverage tops- either going all the way down to touch the top of the bottoms, or some that end more mid-tummy. The thing I don't care for is when active kids are wearing smaller, more triangle-style tops and the kids are running and playing and their tops are sliding all over their torsos. They don't have boobs to hold them in place, and truly there's nothing wrong with a three year old running around with her chest showing, but it just feels a little off to me, and not what I'd want Millie to be doing in public. So if she wanted a more 'bikini' style top, I would probably let her wear it around at home for awhile and see how much sliding around it did, and whether she adjusted it herself to keep it in place or what, and then let that determine whether that suit made it out to the beach or not. :) Luckily she doesn't seem to have any bathing suit preferences yet besides color/pattern, so I can pick whatever I like!!
Love the one piece for P! and the mermaid one is super cute also! Loving the fuschia color of Drew's 2 piece! I know I'm not a mom but I do work in the juvenile system and you just really have to be careful. I feel like when we were young we didn't have to deal with all this crap now a days! social media and weird dudes taking pictures and posting them! I have really been researching human trafficking and we are starting to get together a team to work with that population and people think it doesn't happen in their little happy town but it does. So that wasn't really advice but just some thoughts. You are a great mom and I'd rather overthink than be completely naive!
I am from a different culture (European) where young kids are considered very much asexual and having wet clothes on is harmful for ones health. We let our kids run naked on the beach until maybe 4y old and after that with minimal coverage (think speedos for boys and just bottoms for girl). Tops come on whenever they are actually needed (when boobs start to grow or after girls get their period). For me seeing a young girl with a bikini top is very weird, but then again I can see how shocking it would be for Americans to be on a European beach. :) I just wanted to put it out there as a different perspective.
Not a girl mom but this post made me laugh because as a young girl (maybe 5? 6?) someone gave me a tiny pink polka dot bikini. I LOVED IT. There was a way to tie to top so it was like a bandeau (no shoulder straps) and I always BEGGED my mom to do that but she never would (thankfully I had aunts that would do it). My parents were (still are) super conservative so it was the only bikini I owned until I started buying my own (I think college freshman year??) when I bought a cherry print string bikini that I loved as fiercely as that pink polka dot bikini. To date those are my favorite swimsuits I ever owned in my life.
Commenting twice because I can’t figure out how to reply to a comment on my phone, but to the Anonymous poster from Europe who said children run around naked, I LOVE THAT.
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