Some Children tend to wear things for big kids at a very early age. This is especially true for girls, many of whom want to experiment with adult clothing and make-up – and skin care from SephoraNaturally.
Parents You must decide whether to give in to these urges, whether to allow your children the freedom to explore and express themselves, or whether to set limits for them. And rest assured, this decision will never be consensual for all parents.
Just ask Florida Mama Liana DeGeorgeRecently, DeGeorge bought her seven-year-old a pair of high heels, which, unbeknownst to her, sparked a heated debate online about whether or not this was “bad parenting.”
In a video posted on Instagram, DeGeorge recounted how her daughter kept “begging” for a pair of two-inch high heels she tried on, despite her mother telling her, “Let’s just wait a few more years.”
When DeGeorge saw the tears in her daughter’s eyes, she admitted that she had “freaked out” and left the shoes to her, describing them only as “special occasion shoes.”
The clip ends with DeGeorge’s daughter strutting around in her kitten heels, with DeGeorge writing, “I gotta tell you, she SHINED.”
Objectively speaking, the age of 7 is much younger than 14-16what podiatrist Romona Brooks recommends for young children to start wearing high heels to prevent problems such as lower back pain, shin splints, ankle sprains and fractures, bunions and hammer toes.
This was just one of the points critics made against DeGorge’s decision. Some said she was “deforming” their daughter’s feet. Many others argued that it taught their daughter to push boundaries.
“Moral of the story: cry if you want something,” one person wrote, while another said bluntly, “You’re the mommy, you should learn to say no.”
Others were firmly convinced that it was simply to grown up and could attract the wrong kind of adult attention. As one person put it, “I was fine until I saw her brisk walk. She’s SEVEN.”
Another joked: “Why stop here? Next time treat yourself to a glass of wine and a cigarette.”
Yet there were many others who found these comments far too “dramatic” and even remembered doing the same thing as children.
“Why are people freaking out? It’s not like she’s wearing stilettos. I’ve been wearing these kind of low block heels since I was six,” one person wrote.
Another added: “I wore high heels when I was a little girl – it’s every little girl’s dream to be like her mummy.”
Others praised DeGeorge for helping her child build self-esteem.
“I just know she feels so confident wearing them 💕 great job mom!!!” wrote one viewer.
Be that as it may, Brooks notes that there are safe ways to accommodate a child’s desire to wear high heels if they insist on wearing them. These include, first and foremost, choosing a low block heel with room for the growing toes and only letting the child wear the shoes for a maximum of 2-4 hours and definitely not every day. DeGeorge seems to do all of these things.
And in an interview with Today, DeGeorge added that while she doesn’t regret buying her daughter the shoes, she “says no to a lot of things.”
“My daughter then says, ‘Mom, my friends have TikTok’ and I think to myself, ‘Are you kidding me?! You’re only 7!'”
DeGeorge also replied that while people warn her not to let her daughter grow up too fast, “this big girl moment Is part of her childhood” and she wants to honor that.
For parents, it’s a never-ending struggle to find the balance between protection and freedom. And while there are certain aspects of modern life that undoubtedly expose children to things that threaten their innocence, this story is a reminder that, for the most part, there are also a fair amount of grey areas.
