Princess for a Day

Bryce has been very into dressing up lately. Until this point, I had filled a personalized box with items she had received from birthday presents, as well as some accessories from my own closet. As I continued to build her fantasy ‘wardrobe,’ her collection very much outgrew the box. My own clothing-obsessed self watched in horror as she tried to smash sequins and tulle into her dress-up chest during clean up. I was also constantly being called into the room when she could not locate a desired skirt or crown amidst all that chaos and clutter.

Last week, I schlepped their plastic ride-on cars up to my in-laws in a desperate attempt to stop my kids from continuously bashing into the walls of our apartment. The repainting we had done this summer was shabby at best at this point and our floors were also starting to show wear from their constant racing. I felt guilty taking away such a beloved toy, but my apartment was crying out for help and I needed to oblige. Plus, this freed up some space in the playroom for me to re-imagine dress up.

I found this garment rack on amazon, which comes with pink slim line hangers. I like the sleekness of the white metal that blended in nicely with the chaos of the playroom. Most of the racks I looked at were made of heavy wood, and were rather large pieces of furniture unto themselves. I was not looking to dominate the playroom, just enhance it. I opted to purchase my own hangers along with skirt clips to keep things a bit more gender neutral and cohesive. It was easy to put together, lacks any dangerous sharp corners and is relatively sturdy enough to combat my brood of monkeys over here.

Bryce squealed in excitement when she saw all of her tutus and gowns neatly hanging, quickly selecting which princess ballerina outfit she would wear, and which one I would squeeze my 30-something self into. Brody saw this taking place and quickly ran the other way with his cars. In an attempt to make things accessible for all interests, I hung a selection superhero costumes and masks, but they were quickly ripped down by the now fairy-princess-ballerina-Elsa-queen, who wanted to keep things pink.

I store all of the bags and jewelry in the remaining bin, tucked underneath the rack so that is is accessible during dress-up time but hidden away enough to keep things orderly. It may take a few more minutes to organize, instead of shoving the clothing into a box, but what girl doesn’t like to wake up to a wardrobe of glitter and sparkles every day. It is like art.