color

Today I started to prep my 5 year old daughter's room for a new paint treatment.

When I was pregnant with her, the husband and I decided a gender neutral palate would be best (even though we knew we were having a girl). So the carpet we chose was (and is) sage green. The walls were a soft yellow from the floor to about five feet, then a border, then a warm white. The border was classic Winnie-the-Pooh.

I had made a very firm rule with my family - no pink for my kid. A rule I enforced with my mother but didn't have the heart to enforce with my mother-in-law after she had knitted one of the most beautiful receiving blankets I have ever seen. The blanket was pink. My mother-in-law also got her adorable (pink) clothes.

My mom somehow understood the double standard, after grilling me about the pictures starting to surface of my newborn in pink.

The husband discovered that our baby looks terrific in salmon and many shades of green. He has exquisite taste in clothing for her. I love it when he shops.

When she was a babe, I dressed her in pants and jeans. When she learned to talk, she started to want dresses and skirts.

When I started taking her shopping so she could pick out her own clothes - she would go straight for the pink and purple.

Now she is 5. She has developed her own tastes. She loves Fancy Nancy. She wants to learn French. She has begun kindergarten. The "nursery" now needs to change. So I let her pick the colors of her room. She requested two colors - pink and purple - on alternating walls. So "One Enchanted Evening" a light purple will be on two walls and "Enchanted Princess" a light pink will be on the other two.

I will no longer fight this. I have a girly-girl who will play in a dirt-pile in a frilly dress and enjoy it! And yes, that dress was light green.