There is currently a popular social experiment and discussion going on in China today with regards to parenting and what would happen if children were sent off to their grandparents.
Parents who tried the experiment sent off their kids to their own parents and posted pictures of how different their children are when they come back in terms of fashion.
Increasing number of young parents are posing these comparison pictures on WeChat and Sina Weibo to emphasize how much of a "fashion killer" grandmas could be to kids these days. The pictures showed children completely transformed by their grandparents when it comes to what they are allowed to wear.
"This is what my boy looked like before going to his grandma's," one parent wrote under the name of Xiaoxiao Fangzi, posting a picture of a happy little boy donning stylish toddler clothing.
"When I went to pick him up a few days later, I saw a boy playing by the roadside and thought that he looked very familiar. His head was shaved and the clothes he was wearing made him look like a beggar!" she shared, with a picture of the same boy, but now shabby-looking and wearing dirty clothes.
"Grandmothers really are 'killers' of fashionable children. It's the truth. Please believe me!" various Chinese netizens concurred.
The justification given by some is that elderly people are more concerned about comfort than fashion. However, there are also those who said that they cannot contain themselves anymore upon seeing these pictures. For them, the elderly people just do not care about their children's hygiene.
One parent complained that her daughter looked fresh and bright when she was handed over to her grandparents. After six months, her child has become dark-skinned. While she thought it was because the child was exposed to the sun and got tanned, washing the child's face made her bright and fresh-faced again.