Almost every day Noa and I get into some kind of battle over clothing. Sometimes – rarely - it is a battle of the wills: What she wants to wear vs. what I want her to wear. Other times it is a battle to change or not to change She tries to convince me that she has valid reasons to change her clothes – like they are dirty, wet, uncomfortable, etc. There were a few times that I wondered if she had purposely had a potty mishap just so she could change her clothes. Our most common battle is using her and Martha’s clothing like toys. She LOVES to take their clothes out of their drawers and “pack” them, put them on dolls, and layer them over her already worn clothes. This has become a discipline matter because, as I have explained to her, it is inconsiderate and unkind to undo the hard work her mother does in cleaning, folding, and putting away her clothes. Furthermore, clothes are a provision from God, and I want her to learn to be a good steward of them and take care of them.
So, these are the waters we are treading right now. It is a daily thing (because – you guessed it - we get dressed every day), and I am trying to work it so it is not a battle every day. I think we have some good ways of dealing with it, but we still have some obedience issues.
Like this morning. The girls headed into their room to play after breakfast. It was entirely too quiet and I could have predicted what I would see when I went in. Sure enough, there were several things on the floor and this is what the girls looked like:
She even got Martha dressed!
So now, after being disciplined for taking out clothes without asking, she has to stay in what she chose to wear all day. sigh.
I guess I am thankful for this outlet of creativity… I just want to know how to instruct her well with it, and be consistent too.
Here’s another exhibit of her clothing craftiness – again – on her sister:
In Martha’s words, isn’t she, “boooo- foh” ?
Sara-Beth,
Thanks for this post. I appreciated your take on training your girls to be considerate of the work that goes into washing, folding and putting away the clothes. Never really thought of bringing that into my conversations with the kids.
Sooooo…for all the hard work it is, you’re teaching this mommy something today even if your kids don’t always get it…so thanks!
Kim
I don’t know if you’ve considered a “dress-up box” stocked with Goodwill finds or cast-offs of your own clothing? Having a box of clothes she was ALLOWED to play with helped my daughter handle the disappointment of not being allowed to constantly “play” with her own clothes
I do have to admit I love her style. My daughter is 10 and she still goes through the same thing, but she can put them away on her own..as long as they don’t keep going into the laundry!
I love the dress-up box idea. We do that too!
ahh!!! love it! that last picture of martha is just priceless, absolutely made my day. looking at her face you would think she was wearing the most beautiful, exquisite ball gown ever. LOVE those girls! I can’t say I can relate to the clothing problem exactly, but def with the obedience issues
Liam would rather strip. 
oxoxoxo love you
I feel your pain. We have gone through some of this. I LOVE that you focus on not playing with the clothes etc b/c they are blessing from God and b/c of the work you have put into caring for your girls by folding etc. you might be able to get her over this a little if you let her pick her clothes out herself to wear all day, but explain that then that is it- she is not to go in the drawer again. it will mean some pretty embarrassing outfits but might get her over it b/c she feels she is able to express herself the way she likes. good luck with this one!
girls! gotta love ‘em!! My girls do the same thing! Dress up clothes helped a lot! So did allowing them to pick out their outfit (no matter how crazy) on days that we stay home. Now, they have the clothes thing down pretty well (they mostly pick out good outfits and stay in them all day), but we have moved on to hair!! Now I have to let them fix their hair if we stay home, but mommy has to do it when we go out!
Boys aren’t like this– really… with boys you just have to convince them to put their shirts on right side out and to try to not run around on their knees toooo much! lol! kids are fun!
dianna
So incredibly Boo-Fo. I think Noa took some lessons from the Japanese–I think her creations are pretty stylish SB! No joke! I can’t wait for Annie and Lils to benefit from her fashion sense.
Can’t wait to see you soon! You’re a great mom.
This makes me smile. I was going to suggest the Goodwill box, too! I have a different problem with the boys- they dirty everything. I get so discouraged, I just don’t dress them till we’re ready to leave.