Dear Urban Diplomat: How do I get my neighbour to stop dressing her toddler in skinny jeans?

Dear Urban Diplomat: How do I get my neighbour to stop dressing her toddler in skinny jeans?

My neighbour dresses her toddler in ridiculous hipster clothes. The kid’s scarf is twice the size of his head, and his jeans are so tight that he can’t even play properly—he gets stuck trying to straddle a tricycle. How do I say something without being an obnoxious backseat parent?

—So Hip It Hurts, The Junction

My heart goes out to poor little Atticus or Kale or whatever his horror-story parents named him. No toddler worth his Binky would choose skin-tight denim over unfettered access to trikes and teeter-totters. Alas, they don’t give three-year-olds credit cards, so parents—not kids, and certainly not meddling neighbours—still get the final say on style. Fashion is on the list (along with cuisine, discipline and health care) of parenting prerogatives that you don’t get to chime in on unless actual harm is being done—the jeans aren’t that tight, I hope. I’m sure his mom already gets more than enough unsolicited advice from in-laws, co-workers and randos on the subway, so keep the sartorial critiques, however righteous, to yourself.

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