New York Mom|The Mama Bird Diaries

10 Jun

sound of music revamped

It’s just so darn cheesy when parents force their kids to wear matching outfits. Puh-lease. How about a little creativity? A little individuality? Why must we subject young, innocent children to such hokey torture?

Oh, right… because it’s fun!

Poor Dylan. She already knows her street cred is toast. Holla!

And what better way to show my never ending love for Rick than his and her’s sweat suits? I mean how friggin cute as a button is this couple?

Are they part of some creepy Siamese jogging cult?

Or maybe I should just take it up another notch and go family style.

Listen, I can’t get a single photo of my entire family smiling, so maybe they are on to something. Plaid and v-necks not your thang? Well, let me see if I can dig up a little something for you out there. Floral? You like the floral? Who doesn’t like the floral? Aloha, happy family!

Yup, you can actually wrap up your whole clan, head to toe in hibiscus. People, dreams really do come true. And look at this…. There is actually a company that will help. Matcheez gives you tips for dressing alike and insists, “You can show your family unity to the world by dressing alike.”

I think I’m a long way from showing my unity to the world because every time Rick puts on a shirt that is even remotely similar in color to my top, I make him change. You can never be too careful.

Gotta scram. Just called Julie Andrews. We are off to sew Dylan and Summer matching play clothes from my old blackout shades. Yeah, I don’t really have curtains.

mama bird diaries

Daphne Biener set out to create a laid back, relaxing summer for her girls. Umm… that’s not exactly what happened. Click on contributing mamas to read more.

Click on New York City Moms Blog to read my latest piece, Mother of Two Seeks Adventure.

Finally, this week, we have TWO awesome giveaways from Lands’ End. I’m giving away a Girl’s Swim Package (bathing suit, short sleeve rash guard shirt + beach towel) and a Boy’s Swim Package (board shorts, short sleeve rash guard shirt and beach towel). Sun sensible with 50 UPF Protection. Winners will get to pick the sizes.

To enter, leave a comment this week on the mama bird diaries and let me know if you are interested in the boys giveaway, the girls giveaway or both!

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Comments

June 10, 2008 @ 9:24 pm, by Jane @ What About Mom?

I have awful pictures of me, 4 younger siblings and both parents wearing the same shirt all over America the year I graduated high school. Oh, the shame!!

Also, LOVE the part in Enchanted where Giselle makes a dress out of the curtains. Classic!

Would love to win the girls swimsuit giveaway!!
June 10, 2008 @ 9:30 pm, by madge

Matcheez? And there are people out there who say the world isn’t coming to an end…..
June 10, 2008 @ 10:03 pm, by suburbancorrespondent

Both, of course.

Hmmm, Matcheez…thanks for another way to totally torture my teen daughter. Maybe she’ll finally run away from home when I show her the matching outfits our family can wear.
June 10, 2008 @ 10:25 pm, by Kristen M

I totally said I would not dress the girls alike but they look so cute in matching dresses! I love all the pictures. …. oh what the heck just for fun enter me in the giveaway!
June 10, 2008 @ 10:32 pm, by Rhea

I’m interested in the boys’ giveaway! awesome!

I love the post on families dressing alike. Over all I think it’s kind of awful but once in a while for fun is ok. I prefer people get to express their individuality. lol
June 10, 2008 @ 10:57 pm, by Shannon (Cole Mine)

I think girls are easier to dress alike than boys…They look so darn cute in matching outfits. Boys don’t really get to wear “outfits”.

All we could muster four our recent family photos were jeans and white tee’s! Unity at its best!

We’re all about the boy giveaway in this family-
June 10, 2008 @ 10:59 pm, by Shannon (Cole Mine)

P.S. That Matcheeze link is hilarious. Love the tie dye fam.
June 10, 2008 @ 11:00 pm, by flutter

I am wordless with horror.
June 10, 2008 @ 11:05 pm, by Jordana

You know I am ALL about the matchy-matchy! I cannot wait to start dressing my girls in the same outfit and if all the Bales could coordinate their clothing every day – that would be just delightful. Gotta go check out Matcheeze…
June 10, 2008 @ 11:07 pm, by Julie

love the girls swim suit package.. and please don’t send me a matching one!
June 10, 2008 @ 11:10 pm, by Jordana

PS: I just went to Matcheez.com and Michael came over and asked me what I was looking at and I explained the site and he said, “That’s awesome.” I knew I married the right guy – 80s lingo not withstanding.
June 10, 2008 @ 11:11 pm, by Pearl

When I was in the second grade, I had a dress that looked similar to one my mom had and I LOVED it when we wore them at the same time. I don’t know why I liked it so much, but I am pretty sure that means I am a great big dork.
June 10, 2008 @ 11:13 pm, by LaskiGal

I love matching . . . my socks . . . and that is about it.

Though, I did dress in the same color t-shirt and shorts as J recently. I think he was embarrassed. I mean, he’s only 10 months, but he has a rep to protect.
June 10, 2008 @ 11:47 pm, by Inzaburbs

My grandmother was a seamstress and for the first ten years of my life most of my outfits were made by her. As were my sister’s – matching of course. Everybody thought we were twins. I still wonder why my mother didn’t mix things up a little…

The best matching I ever saw was a little old couple in His’n'Hers pink velour jogging suits.

I am interested in both the girls and boys giveaways. My children are currently running around in swimwear so small that you would be forgiven for thinking they were not wearing anything at all.
June 11, 2008 @ 1:12 am, by Abby Siegel

How come I don’t get the mama email until much later than everyone else?its not that I am sleeping- I am actually up at 2 am when they first come through! Thank god my mother was not creative enough to dress my brother and I alike.
June 11, 2008 @ 5:54 am, by Jenny

I love to put my boys in matching outfits. I’d like the boy swim package.
June 11, 2008 @ 6:16 am, by Diane

As a twin, I’m grateful my mother didn’t buy into the silly dress-as-same tradition that so many fall for with twins. But now that I have a 2 and 3 year old, I have to dress them similarly, if not alike. That way, when they are running off into crowds or traffic, I only have one outfit or color to remember. Speaking of outfits, we’d love the swim package. We do a lot of that down here in TX.
June 11, 2008 @ 6:18 am, by Jacki

Sometimes, on sheer accident, Peter and I will end up wearing the same colors (for instance, white shirt with jeans) and one of us will have to change. Just ain’t gonna go there.
June 11, 2008 @ 7:02 am, by Steph

I love dressing my girls in similar dresses but our older one is losing enthusiasm for it
so of course I’m interested in the girls’ Lands End.
June 11, 2008 @ 7:03 am, by Queen Goob

Our family pictures usually depict how the three-quarter nelson is properly executed.
June 11, 2008 @ 7:26 am, by mackbeth

My husband actually had to inform me (more than once) that it really isn’t that cute to have matching brother shirts on the boys. He also included the fact that they were going to hate me one day for it. Now I settle for same shirt, different colors. The girls look so cute!! I would die before I matched as a couple. My parents have matching names….Jerry and Jerry, but they have NEVER dressed alike! I have to check out matcheez!!
June 11, 2008 @ 7:30 am, by Robyn

My little Bear always ends up looking like his daddy’s Mini-me. Not because I’m buying them the same outfits, but when they both shop at The Gap, Old Navy, etc. — it’s hard to avoid!
–Bear would look sooooo cute in the boys’ swim package… (hint, hint)
June 11, 2008 @ 8:01 am, by Becky

I almost spit out my coffee with the “Aloha, happy family!”

You are too funny!!!
June 11, 2008 @ 8:03 am, by Becky

Oh and boys please! Giveaway that is. but a cute boy give away would be good too. Over 25 years old though please.
June 11, 2008 @ 8:57 am, by Marylou

Raindrops on roses
and whiskers on kittens
Neither of my boys
can ever find their mittens
Now that its summertime
suits are what they lack
I sure hope we win
your cool summer paaaaaaaaack!
xoxo
Marylou (Valerie Wagner’s sarcastic friend from law school … you remember now, yes?)
ps – Love your blog. It is how I start my day before heading out to think big thoughts and save the world, one sick kid at a time.
June 11, 2008 @ 9:33 am, by sarah

love rash guards – what about a set for mom?
June 11, 2008 @ 9:53 am, by Michelle

Anyway I can get the bathing suits to be matching!!?? hehe
June 11, 2008 @ 9:55 am, by Julie

I thought your girls looked so cute matching.
June 11, 2008 @ 10:07 am, by Jessi

I love finding matching clothes for my kids, but only if they’re cheap since they will only wear them once for pictures…
Your girls are so cute!!

I’m also interested in the swim suits for both boys and girls. (reminds me that if I don’t win, I need to go shopping soon)
June 11, 2008 @ 10:09 am, by Erin

As for the matching bit, no way jose, at least for me and the husband. Maybe the kiddos because like you said it’s pretty cute.
Great post on the NYC moms. Your trip sounds amazing and I can’t wait to hear about it. We were in Italy a year ago but didn’t go south of Rome. Would go back in a heart beat!
June 11, 2008 @ 10:10 am, by Erin

Oh, yeah just in case I’m all over the little girls swim package!
June 11, 2008 @ 11:23 am, by Buffy Blackwell

Very funny…I’m always looking for new and funner (yes, that’s right–FUNNER) ways to torture the Really Rottens. I used to think that making my 15yr old kiss me good bye or hold my hand in public was the bomb. (FTR-I also like to scream “Mommy loves you!” out the window at him when I drop him at school. He really hates me…) But matching outfits–the sheer simplicity of evil genius. I would darn near guarantee that all 4 would have years of stuff to talk about in therapy. BTW I would love to have the swim stuff but since I live 20 degrees south of hell, it’s already so hot that I just about burst into flame when I walk outdoors. My kids say that’s because of karma…whatever could they mean?
June 11, 2008 @ 12:17 pm, by Bitsy

Would love the boys swim package! I must admit that I did match my kids when they were little. But never my husband! And at least I stuck to solid colors in linen.

I think I saw those poor people in Hawaii. Or was it Disney World?
June 11, 2008 @ 12:45 pm, by Jen

It’s happened to me–I walk out the door with the two kids and we are all wearing the same color green top or similar color patterns. People comment on how cute that we’re dressed alike and I kinda cringe. If Luke could match outfits with Parker or me for that matter, trust me, he would!
June 11, 2008 @ 1:02 pm, by Madmad

Yikes! I do the same thing, though, if my husband has on even close to the same color as I do – make him change immediately! I did accidentally buy my daughter the same color winter coat (a sensible brown, of course) as I have, and never put two and two together that we would be seen together – and that stunk. So now I make her leave her coat in the car. What do I care if she gets cold? She’s young. She’ll live.
June 11, 2008 @ 1:08 pm, by kristen

my girl would be thrilled if we had matchy-matchy outfits. The best I can muster is chucks, which is really pretty cute.

Because your girls are still little, I think they look adorable matching.
June 11, 2008 @ 1:25 pm, by Jennifer H

My son hates it when I make him wear a dress exactly like his sister’s.

“wrap up your whole clan, head to toe in hibiscus”…that’s funny! I’m heading out right now to the fabric store. Right now.

I can’t believe there’s a website devoted to getting people to match their family’s clothing. Crazy.
June 11, 2008 @ 1:44 pm, by Nap Warden

I am truly speechless:O
June 11, 2008 @ 1:46 pm, by mp

When I was little my mom used to MAKE dresses for me, my bff and her little sister..we were in matching jumpers. OMG

Boys giveaway please~!
June 11, 2008 @ 1:46 pm, by liz

We were dressing our son for a morning in the fountains when we realized we never got him any sort of swim suit for the summer. We’d LOVE the boys package! And with #2 just days away, I don’t see myself with any time to shop. consider us entered!
In the city, when we see entire families dressed alike, it’s like a blinking neon sign: TOURIST!
but in the case of small children: adorable.
June 11, 2008 @ 2:40 pm, by Cat

Your bad!
June 11, 2008 @ 2:45 pm, by PunditMom

PunditGirl is a great little swimmer. She’d love a new bathing suit for the summer!
June 11, 2008 @ 2:51 pm, by carmen

I’d love either one – I’ve got two boys and four girls, so I could REALLY use one or both!
June 11, 2008 @ 3:14 pm, by Lanie

The girls are so adorable! Fletcher and Alyssa have been given a lot of matching and coordinating outfits – and it does make it easier to dress them.
June 11, 2008 @ 3:15 pm, by Cathy

I bet you have a matching blue dress

I’d love the boy’s package.
June 11, 2008 @ 3:53 pm, by Damselfly

Well, I guess the matching outfits makes it … easier … to … find related people in a crowd? Like the Von Trapp siblings hanging from the trees?

A boy’s swim package would be great! We could really use the SPF!
June 11, 2008 @ 4:00 pm, by aimee

Oh yeah, my mom used to make matching “jams” for all my cousins for our family vacation every year. We loved it!

Oh and please pick me for the boys swim package
June 11, 2008 @ 4:13 pm, by Aunt Marcia (Guess Whose)

If I ever found a man who wanted to dress as I do, it would be ‘love at first sight’; and we’d have a standing invitation to lead parades all over this country.
June 11, 2008 @ 4:51 pm, by Smiling Mom

Sig me up!!
June 11, 2008 @ 4:53 pm, by Memarie Lane

I didn’t mind being dressed like my older sister when I was younger. But as we got older I wanted to branch out. So when we’d go buy clothes, my sister would actually wait and see what I picked out, then she’d get the same thing in a larger size. Drove me crazy!
June 11, 2008 @ 4:58 pm, by bonggamom

I have a girl and twin boys, and I’ll admit I’ve dressed them in matching outfits when they were younger, but only rarely because the boys are already so identical, people need clothing cues to tell them apart! PS: as for the Lands End prize, I’d take girl, boy or both!
June 11, 2008 @ 5:25 pm, by ewe_are_here

I’ll put my boys in the same tshirts once in a while… particularly cute ones, of course.

I lived in Hawaii for 6 years. How we mocked the tourist families in their matching aloha attire. BAD aloha attire. Not the good stuff.

As for Lands End, matching outfits for the little boys, of course. heh heh
June 11, 2008 @ 6:11 pm, by kimberly/tippytoes

I have a boy and a girl, which puts a kink in the matching outfits thing.

I’d take either a boy or girl Lands’ End set!
June 11, 2008 @ 7:35 pm, by Julee

I would love to win either boy or girl package….or both
June 11, 2008 @ 8:17 pm, by Leticia- Tech Savvy Mama

What a hilarious post! Love the whole family in head to toe Hawaiian hibiscus print. I’d love either the boys or girls swim collection. Thanks!
June 11, 2008 @ 8:32 pm, by magpie

you forgot the hanna andersson matching long johns for the whole family…
June 11, 2008 @ 8:44 pm, by Aimee

Hey I totally want to see you and your family ALOHA’ing it out in that outfit! (PLLLLEEAASEE)
Ok. There is a FINE line between totally cute and TOTALLY dorky How about when you go to different theme parks and the entire family is wearing the same dork shirt! I mean I get it IF and ONLY IF you are John and Kate plus 8 (as it can be used to keep track of all those rug rats). But if you have less then 8 kids and doing that—You need to go on FAMILY What Not To Wear and have a sit down with Stacey!

I would totally dig winning the boy package–Rylan would totally rock those board shorts and pick up all the ladies with matching bikini’s!
June 11, 2008 @ 8:46 pm, by Kristin

You have to admit – the girls looked so cute! I know Summer was digging looking like her big sister! I clicked on the Matcheez link – scaaary!!! I would love to be entered in the girls giveaway from Land’s End.
June 11, 2008 @ 9:15 pm, by Deb Ringold

Hilarious!!!! I do know a woman with 2 sets of twins and she dresses the entire family, including her husband and herself, in the same colors each day. She says it makes the laundry easier. Bizarre if you ask me.
June 11, 2008 @ 9:55 pm, by Farrah

My hubby tells me the ONLY time I am allowed to dress our family in coordinating clothes is for our Christmas pics so I always make the most of it!
I would love to be enetered to win the boy’s swim package. Thanks so much!

Farrah (from Chicago Moms Blog)
June 11, 2008 @ 11:28 pm, by amy

Sign me up for the team of people who SWORE they’d never dress their children in matching outfits–before they had two of the same sex. Though, now my five year old will only match unmatched outfits, so it gets more difficult. And we’re definitely drawing the line at dressing the same as a family. I have enough problems without dressing like a two year old…

Would love to be entered in the girl’s swim package!

-Amy
June 11, 2008 @ 11:38 pm, by Gabriella's mom

Cool pics! And everytime I see the big New York families at JFK with 10 kids in tow, all wearing the same orange shirts, I think “that Mom is a genius!” that way when one of them runs off the she just has to tell airport security “he was wearing the same obnoxious orange shirt as this one, now find him before the gate closes!” –PS: I like the girl bathing package.
June 12, 2008 @ 10:07 am, by mayberry

I am scared to go to that site.

A few years ago we went to Hilton Head. All week long we’d see huge families gathering on the beach in late afternoon for their annual holiday card photo shoot. You could always tell by the white shirts + khakis.
June 12, 2008 @ 11:11 am, by The Mom Bomb

Siamese joggers! You are too funny! I always smile at the matching mother-daughter outfits in the Hanna Andersson catalog. Or the pix where the parents and kids are in matching striped jammies.
June 12, 2008 @ 12:01 pm, by Teaching Kids Yoga

O0h – the matching floor-length skirts in the Santa Claus pictures – only outdone by the plastic curlers we had to sleep in the night before.

BTW – I’d like either the boys or girls outfits.
June 12, 2008 @ 1:02 pm, by Turbokittykat

Minus the pix of Summer and Dylan, where did you find those people? Stepford? I can’t even get my to coordinate?
June 12, 2008 @ 1:34 pm, by Jane

that matcheez site is SOMETHING ELSE. wowsah.

would love the girls bathing suit set!!!
June 12, 2008 @ 2:44 pm, by Kim @ What's That Smell?

I think the worst we’ve ever done is put my son in a DIFFERENT Hawaiian shirt than my husband!

I’ve got both a boy and a girl so either would work!

Thanks!
June 12, 2008 @ 10:10 pm, by Yvie

I love wearing matching shirts with my hubby. We always do this whenever we’re in the mood for a date or something.

The photos are cute by the way! :3!~
June 13, 2008 @ 8:18 pm, by amy

But seriously, isn’t it so fun?!?
I never dress my girls exactly alike but I do get the same outfit in different colors. Yeah, they hate me.

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