I’ve been sitting on three dresses in the same pattern for about two years now (after a six-month ebay search), and today was the first occasion on which I could dress all three girls exactly the same.

Every time I do put the girls in similar outfits, I think, “Oh don’t they look cute?” But it’s immediately followed by some some innate fear that I am scarring them for life.

Will they look back on the matching outfits and cringe? Or will they understand that I was doing it for their own good? (I’ve discovered that if your children look cute, they get away with a lower standard of behaviour — not that I would accept a lower standard, but sometimes whilst in public, things just happen.)

Calista, 19 months, Brioni, 3yo, + Aisha, 4yo, November 2009
When Aisha gets into this mood, we call it "Cranky Croc". So is her temper tantrum successfully offset by the fact that she looks cute in conjunction with her sisters?

Brioni, 3yo, Aisha, 4yo, + Calista, 19 months old, November 2009
The girls set out to explore the back laneway, and I just followed them with the camera.

As we were driving to church today, I felt my heart bursting with love and pride for my three matching daughters. Ahh, the shallowness of keeping up appearances — I know it’s vain, but the emotions are involuntary.

Calista, 19 months, November 2009
When Calista took off her shoe and put it in her mouth, David looked at me and wryly commented, "She's building her immune system."

Calista, 19 months, November 2009
Cali-Mae, 19 months old, is starting to string words together into coherent phrases. She also loves to say "Why?" and "Ya" as well as "Nooooo".

I don’t have any more matching outfits waiting in storage, though I have heard of a mother of daughters who lives somewhere close by from who I may possibly procure some more matching clothes… Will common sense prevail? Or will vanity win out? Stay tuned to find out…