Affectedly dainty or overrefined

pre·cious (adj.)

1. Of high cost or worth; valuable.
2. Highly esteemed; cherished.
3. Dear; beloved.
4. Affectedly dainty or overrefined

When buying some new spring clothes for Evelyn this weekend, I had the thought, "But she is not precious." I mean it in the girly, frilly, #4 kind of meaning, because, of course, she is incredibly precious to us emotionally. But as a person, as a girl, she is not...well, "affectedly dainty or overrefined."

She needed a couple pair of jeans and a few dresses for the new season. I stopped at the Children's Place (having been too busy to get to the giant humongous consignment sale downtown...) and looked around. Frills. Ruffles. White and pink stripes. Bows. Tulle. Yellow flowers on pale green bodices. Decidedly NOT Evelyn.

But...is it really not Evelyn? Or is it not me, and therefore I say it is not Evelyn? Am I projecting my non-frilliness onto her? Am I buying her dinosaur jackets and black pants because they are cute, or because I am rebelling against the "this is for boys, and this is for girls, and never the twain shall meet" attitude marketers seem to have now? I'm not sure. (I mean, seriously. Why are there different sets of Leggos for boys and girls? Do girls need pink building blocks?)

Of course...really...Evelyn is not frilly. She likes dirt and rocks and airplanes and lions. Her clothes are always filthy. But, she also likes her new pink bike, squishy teddy bears and sparkly shoes. It isn't that I purposefully avoid girly things, it's just that if I see a cute shirt across a store, but it happens to be in the boy section, I don't care. Hence why she has a Broncos t-shirt, dinosaur sweat shirt, and boy jeans.

Speaking of jeans and circling back to the Children's Place, their girl jeans are lame. OK, not lame, but so not built for my daughter. Their styles are listed as "slim thigh" with whatever else they have going on. Hello! Toddlers are chunky! Slim thigh? Definitely NOT my child! She has a hard time getting up on the couch and chairs when her pants are too tight in the thigh and then she gets upset. (I can relate.) So I bought her one pair of girl jeans listed as "straight leg" and one pair of boy jeans that are roomier overall. Same length, same waist, just a different cut on the leg. Whatever.

She also got a blue tie-dye dress that will look fabulous with her beautiful blue eyes. It is cotton and not white and easily washable. Just what she needs. She needs more dresses still (because she really does look adorable in them), but I won't be getting her anything overly precious. Because it isn't her.

Funny to think that an 18-month old already has such a personality. But she does. She is 100 percent Evelyn. And *DANG* I love that kid.