Each morning I wake up at 6:45 when my alarm clock (Eric calling me from the barn) rings and it's time for Taylor to get ready for school. This is the most dreadful and excruciating part of the day. I wake up in a good mood, praying as I walk to her room, that she will arise from the "right" side of the bed. This morning, like many, that was a no go...
It begins with me saying nicely, "Honey, it's time to wake up and get ready to go to school" then onto, "You need to get up now" and finally, "Alright, lets go" as I turn her legs to the edge of the bed and pull her up to a standing position. By this time the whining is full force.
Needless to say, it takes almost 15 minutes just for her to pick out clothes, and usually they are intense as the argument ensues. I explain that she can't wear something for whatever reason and the whining starts again. I loose my patience and end up picking out pants or a shirt or whatever and she throws herself into bed and cries, "I don't even like that shirt!" As steam rolls out of my ears, I find myself reminding myself to be patient, kind and understanding as I say, "Fine, you can go naked then!"
Of course, by 7:10 am she is always dressed and ready to go give dad a kiss and a hug before the bus comes, but I just wish it would be easier. This morning I explained how we are going to go to bed earlier in order to improve our attitude, which of course led to more whining. We'll give it a whirl and see if that's the issue... maybe it is and maybe it's not.
What really rubs it in is when Brady climbs out of bed when I am waking Taylor up and says "Good morning Mom, I missed you and I love you! Where's dad? Can I go to the barn?" I think my little girl might be the death of me!
I feel your pain, Karen. Although I don't have the battle over clothes at my house, I have one boy who is a "morning child" and one who is decidedly not. No matter how determined you might be to stay sunny and non-confrontational, it's difficult in the face of morning melt-downs. One tip? I remember once someone suggesting that I have a drawer/stack/shelf/whatever in your child's room where "school appropriate" clothes live. We keep only season appropriate clothing I can live with in that location. As long as he chooses clothes from there, it's fine. I've had to give up lots of control over matching ("Wind pants and a polo shirt? Sure, honey, that's fine!"), but it's worth it if I don't have to fight about clothes in the AM. Good luck; only a few weeks left and she can live in stained t-shirts and too short skirts all summer long!
ReplyDeleteKaren, I feel your pain. I know I have "ditto" situation at this house. I have never thought to tell miss priss she can go naked...I like that one:)
ReplyDeleteCrystal
I like Aunt Janice's suggestion. I was going to make a similar one; that maybe you work with her the night before to pick out an outfit, so that it's all ready to go in the morning. Having a special pile of school clothes would make it even easier!
ReplyDeleteGood luck. So far James is a morning baby. I hope that keeps up!
Janice's suggestion is great. I was going to say have Taylor pick out 5 different school outfits out of an approved pile of clothes, then put each set on hangars for the week. She COULD label them Mon-Fri, if she wants, or just pick a set. I know that sounds super organized, but I bet it wouldn't take more than 30 minutes every Sunday evening once you get the habit in place and might make mornings a LITTLE easier.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the advice/ comments! We have combined them to picking out an outfit the night before and sorting the drawers into "barn appropriate" and "school appropriate" and have only had one painful morning so far. This makes mom happy :~)
ReplyDelete