We could use some advice from some experienced parents. We're currently wrapped up in a power struggle with Relia over . . . clothes. Yep, every morning is a huge fight to try and get her to wear such awful things like pants and socks and the like. There is yelling and screaming and hitting and kicking. Tears also. Many, many tears.
There is also a problem getting her dressed for daycare. It started by having to playfully chase her to put on shoes and coat, all the while risking being late. Then it became more tears and yelling. I'm beginning to dread the whole thing.
I know this is some kind of power game. Part of the whole terrible twos thing. We're working through it by outwaiting her but it isn't easy. My question, is there anything we can do to speed up the process? Any ideas out there?
9 comments:
Here's a suggestion: let her chose what she will wear the night before. Have her hang it on a hanger or put it on a chair. Let her know she needs to look pretty so that she'll have a fun day at daycare - or some such thing.
Can you pick out a couple of outfits and have her choose? Or let her watch a bit of tv while she is distracted get her dressed. That usually works in my house with my 2 year old.
I agree with Donna...maybe if you let her choose, she'll be more interested in it. Also, here's something I did when I went through this with Annie (to avoid really strange clothing combos): I did a "fashion shoot" and took pictures of her in different outfits, printed it out and put it in a photo album (or you could stick it on the closet door).
This helps you avoid things like purple tutus with plaid shirts and leopard-print tights.
Good luck.
So Annie could choose and "build" the outfit from the book...maybe you got that, but I see I didn't actually put that in there...
I can't wait to see Peder put together the photo shoot. ((snort))
I think I might pay money to see that.
And for what it's worth. As long as they're dressed appropriately for the weather, I don't think it matters what they have on.
We're probably the source of much comment at my 4-year-old daughter's school, because we let her choose her outfits if she wants to. She's particularly proud of "everything dots" outfits or mismatched stripes, but she's always happy to get dressed. The blackmail photos will be worth a lot someday. ;)
Side note: although she likes to dress herself, she often winds up with her underwear on inside out and sideways. We try very hard not to help her fix clothing unless she requests it or it's obviously bothering her. She's quite content to wear her clothing backwards all day, and the satisfaction that she's dressing herself takes the edge off of the goofy results.
Why do I bother?
Excuse me for liking my kid to not look like a dork. I should have known that everyone would find that offensive.
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