The weirdest thing has just popped up in my house. My older toddler cares what she wears. What? This is causing chaos in our morning – and tantrums. Since when do toddlers care what they wear?
Since now, ha ha. While some kids couldn’t care less about what they wear, there are others who care and care A LOT. This whole wanting to pick out their clothes thing is part discovering who they are, part wanting to be independent, part control. There are a few quick bits that can make your mornings a bit better.
- Have your child pick out his clothing the night before. If need be, pick two outfits.
- Have your child pick out the whole outfit all the way to socks and shoes. If not, there will be a fight about this in the morning.
- Be clear that this or these outfits will be the choice in the morning – and there will be no change. Sure, you may encounter a tantrum in the first day or so, but your child will soon realize that she needs to wear what she picks out, making your mornings move along.
- Make only weather-appropriate clothes available. If not, your child will for sure want to wear a sundress in the middle of December or winter boots in July. You want to limit the amount of times that you must say, “NO” in a day, and keeping weather-appropriate clothes will go a long way in helping you reach that goal.
Kids love to feel independent.
Kids love to feel in control of their world, and by letting them control smaller decisions in their lives – like clothing – you will find that the more choice decisions are left to you with little or no fight.
Kids like expressing themselves with clothing – yes, even tiny kids. Is it really that big a deal if your toddler feels that blue stripes go with red polka dots? The respect that you will be giving her will be a strong foundation in the building of her self-esteem.
So all in all, relax. Let go, and let your child pick out her clothing. And when she is out of sight, feel free to giggle a little about the outstanding fashion creation in which she has toddled off to school.
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Brandi Davis, ACC, is a professional Parenting Coach, Parent Educator, and Author of O.K. I’m A Parent Now What? She can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and be sure to catch her parenting podcasts on iTunes. The goal of Brandi’s practice is to bring respect, calm communication, teamwork, and FUN into the home or classroom. To discover all that Child and Family Coaching can bring to your family stop by www.childandfamilycoaching.com.
The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog contributor’s. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Writers may have conflicts of interest, and their opinions are their own.
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