Getting Dressed

For about two months now, Keeley comes into our room when she wakes up at 6:30 am and the first thing she says is, "I want to get dressed." It's not nasty or rude, just matter of fact. Once I rise and shine, I try to convince her to wait until after breakfast, but recently, she's so determined, I figure, ok, it can't hurt. It's one step in the direction of getting us out the door at 9 am. The problem is, she wants to wear a skirt or a dress, everyday. She has plenty of beautiful play clothes from family and friends, but they lay, untouched, because they are not a skirt or a dress. Well, because we don't have a skirt or a dress, or it's not fitting to play in these things everyday, I have to immediately manipulate this clever 3 year old to wear something else. I set rules like, "Skirts are for school or church" or "Dresses are for holidays" but the pleading goes on, everyday, like clockwork, regardless of my strict rules and insistence on mixing up the wardrobe.

So because it's cold now, and children need to wear clothes, I have to manipulate this little girl right back. And I always surprise myself that I come up with something that convinces her that she has found the perfect outfit everyday: "This shirt is a dressy shirt- it's like a dress, you just have to wear leggings with it." "This blazer is super fancy, but you have to wear jeans with it." "Oh look, this shirt is your favorite color! It's purple. Fancy Nancy from your books is 'partial to purple' just like you, remember?"

It's amazing how fast and how "on" my brain has to be immediately upon starting my day. The "two choices of outfits" routine I used when she was a two year old worked wonders for months. "You want the red shirt or the blue shirt?" They think they have the power, you pick two shirts that work. Everyone wins. HOwever, in this three year old world, that game is not working at all, and I find myself in negotiations constantly. Recently in reading my therapy, Jim Gaffigan's comedic take on parenting young kids in "Dad is Fat" he called his three year old an "emperor." Spot on. I've definitely got one of those in our house now, too. Good thing she's still got that dimple.