If you have never heard of this illness called Stripes, you need to head to your nearest library and borrow this adorable book by David Shannon. In the book the adorable, impressionable, and incredibly self-conscious Camilla Cream obsesses about what other people think about her. She worries so much so that she won't eat her favorite food, lima beans, because she is afraid she might not fit in with the kids at school.
On the first page of the book she tries on forty-two outfits trying to figure out what to wear to school!
We have had forty-two outfit changes kind of mornings in our house.
Camilla comes down with the Stripes. Then, as each doctor, nurse, herbalist, and any type of disease detective you can think of comes in, she takes on the shape of the illness they try to attribute as the cause of the stripes. Camilla turns into an American Flag, a large pill, a virus, a bacteria, and eventually into an indescribable blob.
It wasn't until she finally decided that she didn't care what other people thought about her and she ate some lima beans that she turned back to her normal self.
But doing something you want to do or being who you want to be without regard to what other people may think is a tough life lesson. I know many grounded adults that struggle with not falling into that pressure to try and keep up with the Jones.
Each day it is something new- I absolutely must have this specific type of shirt, I will die if I don't get this Password Journal, and Please, please, PLEASE Mom I have to have a phone.
Already? Really?
So how do you has a parent teach you child it is OK to just be yourself? We love this book, but it is a bit on the disturbing side with graphic images of a little girl with roots, berries, and germs growing out of her body. To some little ones, the pictures may seem scary, but to other kids it may be just the message they need. Unless. Unless you happen to have a child that thrives off of getting attention from faking illness. In that case, you may just have an actual case of the Stripes on your hands. Read with caution.
We loved the book Stripes, too! So far, our kids don't seem to be obsessed with what everyone else has. In fact, it may have gone too far. :) The girls and I insisted that their brother buy a shirt with a small logo from a more "trendy" store to add to his usual t-shirts. But he refused to wear it to the first day of school because "That's not the image I want to portray to my teachers." Yes, I know I shouldn't complain. :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, one method we have used is to discuss impracticality and cost, such as with the giant logos and labels: it doesn't make any sense to buy a shirt that means you are paying an outrageous price for the privilege of doing free advertising for a rich company.