Above: Poet at her party | gorgeous floral dress by printebebe and face painting by the very talented party-hosting girls, Sahri and Emily

Somewhere along the way, the colour pink got a bad wrap.

Perhaps we can blame Barbie who made pink so sickly sweet or the slew of toy manufacturers who opted to coat all manner of dolls and prams and tea sets in the candiest shade.

When Poet was born I refused to fall into the girly trap of ghastly pink. Just because I had a daughter did not mean I had to conform to a certain colour palette! For her first year I dressed her in lots of neutrals with pops of red and blue and hints of pink here and there. But then she grew up and her independence shone through and all of a sudden she wanted to wear layers of pink – in all the shades, all of the time.

I resisted, of course, and tempted her with blue florals and love hearts on her overalls, but she was adamant that pink was her favourite and therefore it should be a vital part of our everyday. Subsequently, pink is peppered throughout our home; she paints with it, draws with it and wears it in her hair.

But our experience with pink is so much more than just a girl wanting to wear her favourite colour. It’s about the ideals I created for myself as a parent and the ones I’ve let go of because I realised how ridiculous they were. For some reason I thought there was something wrong with pink. If I dressed my daughter in pink was I falling into a pre-conceived gender trap? Was I adhering to stereotypes?

Um, it’s just a colour! And if she loves it, how dare I place all these rules and regulations on it. More often than not she chooses what she wears (although some days I need to add or subtract a layer to ensure it’s seasonally appropriate) and sometimes she wears pink, sometimes she doesn’t. Right now we’re all about skirts and dresses and necklaces and hairbows but somedays she wants nothing more than a day in her PJs with mismatched socks to boot.

On Sunday just gone we hired the local hall for her birthday party and invited her friends along to celebrate. A few days earlier we went to the shops and bought pink streamers, pink bunting and pink balloons. I looked down at her in the supermarket aisle and soaked in her excitement; it was palpable, she was squealing with glee, her eyes were wide and bright and absolutely delighted. And all because she was choosing the party decorations that her heart desired.

It was her 5th birthday and I let her paint the day pink. There were princess cups and pink cupcakes, face-painted flowers and glittery hair decorations, pink wrapping paper tied with pink ribbon. We danced to Taylor Swift and Frozen and when it was time to go we bellowed a passionate rendition of Annie’s Tomorrow.

I’m not sure what it is about (some) girls and the colour pink but if Poet loves it, I love it too.

Tell me, is there a pink obsession in your household? Does it bother you or do you embrace it?