To not like nail polish on little girls?

'Plait'! :-)

Yorkshiregel I had dresses and ribbons in plaits, as well, but ringlets for special occasions (had to have rags in my hair all night for that). Maybe that's why I wear jeans all the time now!

hopehope I agree with you. All these little girls being turned into mini mes .... Hate it. I don't even think varnish looks nice on their sweet little hands.

Ear piercing - back in the day my DD had to wait 'till she was 15. All the boys were getting a single ear piercing at that time. My son was told a resounding NO WAY and he didn't.

Tattoos - I think they have to be over 16 .... Another resounding NO WAY to my two and they haven't.

I'm still crazy about fashion, get my shellac nails done fortnightly, wear make up, etc etc. BUT my view was that I didn't want my children concentrating on the latest 'in' thing.

Am I alone in preferring little boys with normal hair cuts as opposed to half shaved. Another pet hate!

Oh dear I've become very grumpy on this subject.

I remember playing 'little men' with the boy across the street starting at age 4 till he moved away at 7. Between us we had loads of those little plastic cowboys, soldiers, Indians, whatever... all mixed in.

They were only a couple of inches high. The cowboys that had legs moulded so you could put them on their little plastic horses were best. We built little huts and tents for them, pretended they were in the wild west, or fighting in Europe, or building roads at home. This was long before action figures and these were obviously much smaller.

Great fun... more so than my dolls which I was not allowed to take outside to play with in the dirt. They were so cheap we had tonnes of them and they all had names. Great for imagination.

Gosh you can still get Timmee toy soldiers and other figures...brings back memories. Little men rock, maybe I will get some for my DGD!

Cowboys & Indians
Little Soldiers

Off subject really but I have no strong feelings about nail varnish either way. But now there is some sunshine am I the only one appalled to see girls possibly not much older than 5
in supermarkets and towns wearing very short skirts and even worse tiny crop tops.

Nail polish is ok for short periods of 'dress-up'. What about the new accessories stuck onto skin with Girlie Glue?
girlieglue.com/

I have something missing in my make up...no interest in jewellery, make up or clothes beyond the essentials. However, I enjoy seeing my daughters looking good, and when one gets together with her 10 year old daughter for a session painting finger and toe nails, I think it's lovely. I may have missed something!

Teddy123 & Hophope I agree with you both - children seem to have lost their childhood. Due to the fashion industry seeing yet another market they have aimed fashion at younger and younger children. Most of the young mums have grown up with the idea (promoted by the media) that looking good is what life is all about.
Acrylic nails, makeup ,hair extensions, makeovers, body tan sprays , cosmetic surgery are viewed as essential by many school age children.
I do not have a problem with older children, 11 years upwards, starting to experiment with makeup etc. but agree that toddlers and primary age children look rather ridiculous as "mini-mes". Fine if they are playing dressing up - no doubt as young children we all clattered about in our Mum's high heels at some point, tripping over long skirts and plastering l on lipstick but would not have been allowed outside the house/garden.
Some of the fashions aimed at this age group are indeed provocative and rather worrying.
I am no old fashioned grump, love to see young women looking smart and well groomed but feel that in the fashion scene there are no longer any rites of passage from toddler to child to teenager to adult for many girls. Like so much nowadays there is nothing to look forward to and instant gratification is paramount - as has been discussed on this forum re: very many young couples wanting a house with all the latest gadgets and foreign holidays and expecting free child care / handouts from parents and being most offended if we refuse.

Hopehope i am with you, my Daughter let a friend paint my DGD nails when the little one was about 2. I was really shocked that my Daughter allowed it, it has never happened again.My Daughter is usually very careful in how she dresses my DGD and wont let her ware t-shirts with such sloagans as "when im older i wanna be a W.A.G."
I really don't like to see little girls dressed like mini adults or even worse dressed like little ladies of the night, Katie Price seems to encourage her 9 year old Daughter to dress in a very provocative way

My son loved wearing nail polish on his toes when he was little. His father was horrified!

Are there parabens in nail varnish?

My 3 oldest DGD's, 8 1/2, 8 and 5 love lip balms and toe nails painted. All innocent fun. One problem we have is that the 8 year old is very tall for her age and wears clothes for 11/12 year old. Can be quite hard to buy age appropriate clothes for a sweet just turned 8 year old. My DD struggles at times to find the right things.

I think there are more important things to worry about! Nail vernish , sparkly transfers etc are not in the same league as tattoos and piercings which are permanent . Dont like to see little girls in make up though unless just for dressing up.

Print miss, cycling, football, holding her own verbally are just boys activities? What century are you living in and as for dolls my son had an action man who was tucked up in a dolly cot at night and put in a pram. As for the nail varnish, well why not, kids love to copy adults and that is often reflected in their play activities as well

I don't mind nail varnish on little girls, my GDs are always doing their own and each other's (PRINTMISS it's hardly a 'trend', or if it is it's been going for at least 60 years...)

What I don't like to see is tiny fingernails with old and chipped varnish - some mums don't seem to bother about removing the stuff once it's been put on.

I hate it! I also dislike pierced ears on any child, inappropriate clothes which sexualise them, inappropriate slogans on their tee shirts....
If I did play with my mother's make up (she didn't have much) it was indoors only, then washed off before I went out. I was the same with my DD.
Oh well, perhaps I'm an old fashioned grump. Good thing I don't have GCs!!

I think children have always liked putting on nail varnish - it isn't a modern phenomenon. I don't like the sexualisation of children but, even though I think peeling nail varnish on little hands is not attractive, I don't see it as particularly worrying.

My GSs loved having some of my powder and lipstick put on if they saw me touching up my makeup. The fascination seemed to wear off before they started school. DD was never interested when she was little.

It's a normal child thing, not too be too worried about imo I don't really see that as make up related especially if it's pale and not in school time

When my granddaughter was about 3 she came sobbing to her mum who asked her what was wrong between gulps she said 'because I asked M..... ( her older brother) when he's going to turn into a girl and he told me he never will be a girl Her Mum said 'why do you want M to be a girl' sobbing answer ' because I want to paint his nails'

My three GDs all love it and are allowed to wear it in the holidays. All part of dressing up it's been going on for years. I see no problem with it.

Blimey PRINTMISS what an old fashioned view

I'm glad I don't have to decide what they wear and when, their mums decide.

O.K, so I am old fashioned, forgive me for that. I am all for equality and of course girls/women have taken on roles which once were considered the domain of men, and made a success of it, proving that there is room in the world for everyone who wants to make a life for themselves. Personally I worry about women being pummelled in boxing, clashing in rugby, etc., and the trend to drink like the men on occasions. That's me folks, my opinion, yes old fashioned, and concerned at the way some things are turning out in the world, won't ever be able to change it at my age, so I live with it, but will still express my views.

PRINTMISS Yes you are entitled to your view, it may be out of kilter with current thinking but it is your view. These days we are only allowed to hold a view if it is right ! A very scary mind set for society to hold

Me to yorkshire girl sent out to play with the words ringing in my ears "don't get dirty". So I dressed my daughter in jeans and T shirts. GD (3 yrs) dresses up, likes pink, wears nail polish but runs about, climbs and generally gets dirty even borrows clothes from her brother, she is having fun as it should be.