Fern Michonski / Fern’s Music
Pre-School Music Education Expert: The Children’s Advocate for Love and Kindness, Inspiring Creativity and Joy.
January 25, 2012—What should I wear today?
I’ve heard a lot of parents talking about the hassle they have every single morning when it comes to getting their child dressed for the day, whether it’s for school or just to play and hang around the house. There is often a big struggle because their child wants to wear something inappropriate for the weather or time of year, etc. and then the crying begins when the parents says “no.”
Here is an idea I always used to avoid this scenario as much as possible. First of all, when the season changes, I always made sure that the shorts, summer tops and bathing suits were put away in a different place than the child’s bureau. Then, every night I would go into my child’s drawers and pick out two different outfits I felt would be appropriate for him/her to wear the following day, given what activities were happening for them. When my child woke up the next morning and it was time to get dressed, I would say, “You can choose either one of these two outfits. Which one would you like to wear today?” That did it. My child was happy because he/she was allowed to make their own decision about their clothing, but their choices were within my parameters. It really did work well. I only chose 2 outfits for them to choose from because very young children go into immediate overload if given too many options. I wanted my kids to make choices, but with guidance. Yes, there were times when either my daughter or my sons would point to the bureau and suggest we look in there. I would simply redirect them and say, “These are the choices for today. You can mix and match them anyway you want!”
This may seem like a very simple idea, but it worked like a charm and I did not have any fighting mornings with wailing children, dismayed over what to wear.
Here’s to a happy and peaceful tomorrow morning!