my kids would never do this’

Image: Nine IJf

Jannine Berkelaar is editor-in-chief of Kek Mama. She and her husband Erik have daughter Elin (9) and son Mats (7).

Before I became a mother, I had it all figured out. With this sentence I can start any editorial of Kek Mama. Because as it happens in motherhood, just about everything goes differently than planned or imagined. This time the appearance of my offspring. My kids would always walk flawlessly with it. No loud colors or prints that don’t match and certainly no luminous shoes with sequins.

Also read: ‘My son wears the same clothes every day’ >

fashion fails

In the meantime I, or actually my children, have all these fashion fails made guilty. How I could manage them in the beginning and be in charge of the wardrobe, I have not been able to do that for a long time now.

When we go shopping, Mats usually grabs items that have a Minecraft-like scene on them. Furthermore, it should not be too tight, jeans are out of the question. And Elin feels most comfortable in jeans with a simple T-shirt or sweater. She ignores everything outside of her ‘standard’, because: it is not comfortable.

When she was five, of course, those ghastly glittery shoes with lights in the soles fell within her standard. Every mother knows them without a doubt. For years I was able to guide her past it and I escaped the dance. Until the inevitable moment when she stood in front of me with puppy eyes and those awful shoes in hand. I gave in under the guise of: a child has to develop his own style, doesn’t he? Well, the proud face she finally walked out of the store with was worth it.

This editorial can be found in Kek Mama 05-2022.

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