Rhianime

My beautiful twelve year old daughter, Rhiannon, has found her niche. As I see her come downstairs every morning, I'm puzzled by her tenacity. However, I'm proud that she'd have the gumption to make a statement that breaths originality and humor by pulling together an ensemble emanating a successfully persuasive Picasso ideal of... fashion.



Purposely miss-matching and making no sense at all to the 'average' onlooker, she throws together ensembles with a quirky style that others typically will have some choice words to describe, yet I see as kitschy and original; therefore brilliant.

Yes, we parent her..There's parental block on the TV, no MySpace account allowed, no dating until she's 16 (dad says 21), she has chores everyday, restriction for disrespectful behavior, limited computer time, homework standards, yada, yada, yada. We must be doing a sufficient job, because she continues to be at the top of her class, has a great sense of humor and self confidence, which I suppose is one of the reasons she has so much fun getting dressed in the morning.

Our limits are just that..limits, not restrictions. We don't restrict her from wearing what she wants, we just limit how she wears it. Skirts not too short, no black eyeliner at school, etc. We also encourage her to understand that no matter what she wears, it's never complete without a smile. The restriction would only come if she began to blend with an unhealthy crowd or think getting bad grades was part of her fashion statement.

Anyways, to parent well it doesn't seem necessary to me to isolate as much as evaluate. It's more about giving them the benefit of the doubt first, which makes them feel trusted, and allowing some freedom to find themselves in the ways that appeal to them. In this case, allowing my daughter the freedom of self expression...And that's just what it is...freedom. Freedom to be who she feels she is becoming as a person.

After all, fashion is a form of art and art is self expression. It doesn't always mean everyone is going to like it, and as long as her dad and I feel she's being respectful enough, we want her to do just that. Otherwise, if she can't use fashion (or writing poetry, acting, or painting...which she also loves to do) as a way to express her feelings, then she may turn to something else that I'm

not so crazy about. I don't even want to say the word.

Sooo, I've included a few pics of my little "Rhianime" and hope to remind other parents out there who have children interested in Anime fashion, that it could be worse...at least they are exploring colors other than black, and have a smile when they walk through the mall. Except, of course, the modelesque pout looks good now and then:)