*This Is Absurd ! *

*Rant Alert *

In todays WSJ , there is a cute photo of a baby girl in jeans, she appears to be about two years old and uber cyoot...and thus having captured Aunty Pols attention, I begin to read the article.

It seems that the GAP has come out with a range of "skinny jeans " for the size 0 ( zero- really ?) to 24 month old set.

Skinny jeans.

Kill me now.

It is bad enough that babies are so overscheduled that for some that for some poor souls,play dates are the closest to a real date that they will ever have. Just sayin....

It's bad enough that kids and for the purpose of this rant I am going to focus on little girls..so bear with me here ...are dressing far beyond their years and becoming baby friggan divas before they even get to pre K , much less kindergarten.

I'm not talking the dreaded tweens ..or back in the Jurrasic ages ( if you are over 50 , this applies...oh yes it does too)..pre teens...they have enough to deal with navigating puberty, tampons and breakouts. Giving your pre teen girl a blackberry, ipod , solar nails , hilites, Prada ( or what ever) bag and her sense of entitlement is well on the way to blossoming.

Do we wonder at the Lilo's or Brit's who have been blessed with talent and given carte blanche until they have no choice but to burn out, blow up and end up in rehab, jail or both ?

We tsk tsk tsk at these poor young ladies ( neither IMHO deserve , nor have they earned the right to call themselves women , having born children or not) and shake our heads at the cards that they have been dealt. Children trying to make it in an adult world without boundries or guidence of any kind , and yet we are all gaga over lil baby women outfits for a two year old. Did anyone step in with the Lilo's or Brits when the evidence of Diva-dom first reared its Medusa like head and dare to just say no ? Bueller ?

I'm not saying don't buy them, if you are stupid enough to spend thirty dollars or more on something that your child will outgrow faster than the national debt..go ahead and buy them. Of course you do realize Hippster Mommy that they are made with out snaps along the inseam for the fast change of the organic nappy that the princess is making faces about don't you ? Didn't think so. Buy them by all means..but..have you thought about the path you are taking here ?

Why in the name or both Gaia and Bast can't we let our babies be babies ? Studies have shown that there are segements of the population where little girls as early as 8 (!) years old are hitting puberty. Do we have to push the rush into adulthood at such a pace that they can look like Brit or Miley or worse yet, the dreaded Olson sisters, possibly face puberty at least 5 years a head of their mothers generation and not wonder why they have no self esteem ?

Yes..I always wanted to be older than I was until I was ...that is true of most of us I think. My parents were smart enough to know that while it is noice to have ones child dressed nicely, they were unconcerned about the fashions of the day. Their job was to raise me and protect me making sure that I got through school and was adult enough to move out and function in the real world..trendy or not.

Buy the skinny jeans if you are so moved...by all means. By focusing in on trends and fashion this early you are being a superior parental unit and planting your own seeds of diva dom. You know that once she highness's hiney has graced the Gap skinny, you won't reduce her expectations by forcing her to wear toughskins or shop at tarjay...will you ? And crush her lil bitty heart ?

No....you are a better Mommy than that..after all , it is her self esteem at stake here .

Calling Bullshit here.

Let her get dirty playing in the dirt...focus on the inside , not the outside....life will judge her soon enough. Let her be a kid in mismatched socks with a shirt tail hanging out ...stuffing her face with a cookie now and then. If she's just learning how to walk..let her run around the house in just a diaper now and then ....it won't kill her.

Don't push her to fast...when she comes to her senses later on and realizes that the skinny jean is just an RX for Monistat waiting to happen...she will laugh hopefully and be grateful that her folks were more concerned about herself worth and interior landscape than her appearence....because the teen tween will run circles around her parents rules soon enough...ask any female you know.....we all had some mad skillz.

Carry on.

Aunty Pol