We are so inspired by your thoughtful feedback—we’ve pored over every single word—and are grateful for your encouragement. We understand that while you can’t know how stressful it is to travel with a newborn until you do it, we also know that so much of parental stress is anticipatory, and that once you go through whatever rite of passage you are fretting about, it almost always turns out all right. Or it’s doesn’t. And at some point we, like Lisa Rubisch, wish we could respond to our two-year-old’s tantrum with an adult-size tantrum of our own. We also understand that sometimes it’s knowing how to pair Wallabees with the right jeans that gives you the necessary comfort—and that extra dose of confidence—to get you through the day. (Charissa: This picture is for you!)
We are also intrigued by your responses to the “Free-range Parenting” post. So many of us struggle with that fine line between good parenting and helicopter parenting. How is it that we quibble over leaving a responsible 7-year-old at home alone while we walk the dog for 10 minutes, even though many of us walked to school by ourselves starting in kindergarten? But if we’re being really honest, this anxiety probably has more to do with adhering to the ever-changing conventional wisdom of the day than with a legitimate fear that our child might set the house on fire. Is it possible that we’ve rationalized our herd mentality as conscientious parenting?
We all know that moms have the uncanny ability to entertain serious concerns while contemplating the seemingly superficial. Maybe we just need help implementing the lessons of Judith Warner’s brilliant 2004 manifesto, Perfect Madness—an indictment of this generation of parents who sacrifice their individuality (as well as their marriages) in the name of good parenting. We understand that what we wear, for example, can be a significant means of self-expression, but that in the post-kid, re-prioritized world, there is little to no margin for error. In other words, if we are going to spend money on a pair of jeans, or take the time to try them on, they better be worth it. Here’s were we come in. Every week in Mom Uniform, we will spotlight a mom who we want to copy from head to toe (and often do). Sure, we all see the same stuff on TV, in magazines, and in stores, but unless we get the endorsement from another mom we trust, we aren’t going to pull the trigger. We call this phenomenon Word of Mom, which is like having having a spiritual advisor, personal shopper, and best friend behind every decision and purchase, big or small. When Lucy Sykes and Larissa Thompson both tell us that Rag & Bone makes the most flattering and durable jeans, we believe them and are willing to spend a bit more in some instances because we trust them. Of course we do—they’re moms and they get it.
Larissa wearing a Dunderdon coat that we liked so much, we had to copy her.
Yolanda bought her Dunderdon coat the same day she interviewed Larissa.
Pilar bought hers the day the story ran.