Wash to do?
When my daughter was born, like many people we saturated her life with pink stuff: pink clothes, pink bedding, pink toys. This, of course, was more for us that for the girl and would make a psychoanalyst wince, I'm sure. Tough: we did it and the girl appears to be a normal, well-balanced individual with a wide range of interests, from fairies and princesses to history, The Beano and just about any book she can get her hands on.
When I met my brother in law shortly after the birth I joked to him that I'd be introducing a pink wash to avoid all the other clothes in the house becoming slowly rose-tinted. It turns out that modern clothing is generally very well made so my fears were unfounded. These days I merrily throw in a pair of pink jeans with a yellow top on a 30 degree wash with the kind of 'devil may care' attitude a young Roger Moore would be proud of.
Instead of colours being my main concern, these days the problem has shifted almost entirely, for now the other child has embraced the more indie side of life, developing a love of music such as The Smiths, The Cure and various other pop combos which err on the side of self-absorbed, inward-looking angst. [I call them 'pop combos' on purpose as anyone into this music will be furious. Fure away...]
One of the consequences of this is the transition in clothing hues towards black and grey, with occasional very, very dark colours sneaking in. The problem now is not one of random items of our clothing being brightened up with blush colouring but of them being engloomed by the introspection of the teen years. The only option: I have now had to institute a 'goth wash'.
If you had the time to explain to anyone contemplating having children the true consequences of parenting, they'd listen in increasing terror, their faces falling, then laugh in your face and most likely reach for a bottle. Still, most of us wouldn't miss it for the world, despite the cost, the stress, the general chaos, the grey hair, the fights to tidy rooms...
When I met my brother in law shortly after the birth I joked to him that I'd be introducing a pink wash to avoid all the other clothes in the house becoming slowly rose-tinted. It turns out that modern clothing is generally very well made so my fears were unfounded. These days I merrily throw in a pair of pink jeans with a yellow top on a 30 degree wash with the kind of 'devil may care' attitude a young Roger Moore would be proud of.
Instead of colours being my main concern, these days the problem has shifted almost entirely, for now the other child has embraced the more indie side of life, developing a love of music such as The Smiths, The Cure and various other pop combos which err on the side of self-absorbed, inward-looking angst. [I call them 'pop combos' on purpose as anyone into this music will be furious. Fure away...]
One of the consequences of this is the transition in clothing hues towards black and grey, with occasional very, very dark colours sneaking in. The problem now is not one of random items of our clothing being brightened up with blush colouring but of them being engloomed by the introspection of the teen years. The only option: I have now had to institute a 'goth wash'.
If you had the time to explain to anyone contemplating having children the true consequences of parenting, they'd listen in increasing terror, their faces falling, then laugh in your face and most likely reach for a bottle. Still, most of us wouldn't miss it for the world, despite the cost, the stress, the general chaos, the grey hair, the fights to tidy rooms...
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