I'm not saying people can't think it's cute. Parents dress their kids up as all sorts of shit because they think it's cute. I'm saying that dressing your kid up is not objectively good parenting. That kid didn't buy those outfits. The parents made them dress up. Maybe the kid wanted to and was excited about it, maybe not. But nothing about this image is inherently "doing parenting right."

Take away that text and I cease having an opinion on this photo, but the comments piling on that this is what parenting should look like without context or explanation are reinforcing the idea that children are dolls to be dressed and shown off like toys. Denying children autonomy because you want a cute Christmas card isn't necessarily a good thing.