Not Just Pink

Hello there! Welcome to my daughter's blog. Hannah is 7 and loves all things fashion. When she was about 3 or 4 there was an explosion of interest in role playing, dressing up, imaginative play. Now that she is 7 I can see that she is busy refining that early aesthetic. She is exploring concepts of who she is and what she likes and where she belongs by playing with her rather extensive wardrobe. What initially started as great development opportunities for self help skills has become an important way of expressing her creative genius, and as her awareness of the complex notion of 'beauty' that society holds grows I am hoping that this love of colours and textures might also provide her with moments of therapeutic joy. One day I hope that Hannah will take over this blog and share her unique views on the world and creativity with you herself but for now until she is ready, I hope to be your guide as we follow this girl on her journey. Some of her outfits are beautiful, others bizarre to say the least! I have been known to quote Chanel at her - not too much, why don't you take off the last thing you put on and leave it at that sweetie? As she has pared back her 'look' I have intervened less and less - after all we all have fashion disasters don't we? and some haute couture looks pretty oddball to me - it certainly isn't all conventional beauty. I wonder what Karl Lagerfeld would do with my gorgeous girl? Would he see the beauty in her? Do you? I am fanatical about family snapshots - and love my little Canon powershot camera - I take zillions of photos - some are actually very good but most are quite mundane - and I have no idea of different lenses or effects or how to airbrush my models...so here it will be real life beauty. Raw and unadorned. hope you enjoy the ride. I am looking forward to sharing it with the virtual world. It is early days - and I don't really know you (if you exist at all!) so I will hold back on the confidences for a little while - one doesn't like to be too familiar after all...but you may notice if you chance upon this blog to see that Hannah has Down Syndrome. I don't think this impacts on her fashion passions at all but it does make the fine motor skills required in getting some of these outfits together and put on for herself a little more of a feat than they might otherwise be. Hannah has dyspraxia also and I must say that it is the disability I like least. It hides behind the DS label and is hard to get my head around which means it is more difficult to ascertain when it is challenging her ability to express her ideas clearly - it makes her speech more laboured too. Having DS is part of who Hannah is but it isn't the sum of her - that is still being uncovered.... It is summer holidays here and last Thursday I Hannah's twin brother went to the zoo - for a great day of activities. I decided that Hannah and I could have a mother and daughter day. This meant a day of craft, fashion and pampering. You see Hannah is not like me. I grew up in Brisbane in the late 60s early 70s. When I look back on my childhood I was much more of a tomboy. To this day I don't know how to 'do hair' and makeup is a challenge I find quite intimidating. My body size in no way matches the common view of 'beauty' so clothes buying is more often a chore than a joy. You don't believe me? I'll give you an example. It's one of many. During one of Hannah's therapy sessions the therapist was using flashcards to see what Hannah could understand and/or say. One of them had a picture of a hairdryer on it. I had to let them know that it was no reflection upon my daughter's intelligence when she looked blankly at that one. She had never ever seen one... And so like many other parents before me I have found that my child challenges me every day - in the ways that she is like me and in the ways that she is not. So our mother-daughter days tend to include getting ready together - and yes this means make up and perfume, manicures and bright colours and impractical shoes. This week, while Kit was at the zoo it also included a confidence. Randomly shared as we drove through Lane Cove and back to the inner west - "Mum... Pink is not my favourite colour anymore. Purple is." Now Hannah's speech is a bit idiosyncratic due to the above mentioned snippets so an occasional sound is missing from the words I quoted but her sentences were complete, and that pleases therapy mum no end. So if talking about fashion stuff supplies me with opportunities to help my girl reach her potential - then I am more than happy to become fashionista therapy Mum. Oh and I guess if you ar still reading you now know where the name for this blog of hers came from.