Wardrobe Malfunction

This girl has her own style! She told me yesterday that when she grows up she wants “to do people’s makeup, hair, and style their clothes.”

Does anyone have kids that have bolder, more creative fashion choices than you? A couple years ago we had a daily battle with our daughter. Tears over tears over her clothes not being comfortable enough, small enough, big enough, the right color, short enough, fancy enough, tight enough, loose enough, etc. It seemed as though there was no end to the battle of getting her dressed in the morning.

To say we’ve had some challenges with this one and her wardrobe obsession in the past would be a bit of an understatement. It’d take her hours to pick an outfit for the day. Literally hours. And she’d cry about all her options, and the subsequent mess she’d make.

Making Changes

Finally we decided to try something new, something that would first elevate her tantrums to another level: we took all of her clothes away except for 3 shirts, 3 shorts, 2 pajamas, and 2 dresses. If I could take you back to that very difficult time I wouldn’t, it was awful. It was rough at first, and she was extremely upset that her fashion choices had diminished. Once she realized these rules wouldn’t change until she did, we started to see a light at the end of the tunnel. She became much more decisive and our mornings had fewer tears, it was the beginning of something beautiful!

After a few weeks she was allowed to swap out different articles of clothing for good behavior. When she had really good weeks we would let her have just one more addition to her wardrobe. Eventually she won all her clothes back and there was a shift in her attitude that was wonderful. Sometimes I get the feeling we might need to do this again just to refresh her memory… but it certainly has made a lasting affect.

Stay strong mommas!

It can be tough raising toddlers but we are molding strong and respectful children to have a positive effect on the world and all those they encounter :-)