Since today is Wednesday, I'll follow in the tradition of another one of my favorite blogs, We Are That Family. Today I post a parenting tip that has been invaluable to me over the last 4 years. My friend Lori is having the same dilemma with her 4-year-old daughter that I have long had with Snapper. Sweet and adorable as our little girls are, they are sadly lacking in fashion sense. If I allow Snapper to choose her own outfits, she ends up looking like the poster child for TLC's hit show, What Not to Wear. The problem is that little girls want autonomy. They want to choose their own clothes. As mommies, we want to foster that growing independence...but still have our kiddos look presenatable. Here is the brilliant solution!
Step 1: Go to the store and buy a couple of boxes of 2-gallon Ziploc bags. Don't scrimp and buy Brand X. Buy the tried-and-true, sturdy bags.
Step 2: Empty your child's drawers and match all his/her clothing into coordinating outfits.
Step 3: Put an outfit (complete with socks and undies) into a bag. Seal the bag.
Step 4: Place the bags of warm-day outfits into one dresser drawer, and the bags of cold-day outfits into another dresser drawer. Have a third drawer for sweats and comfy "at home only" clothes.
Problem solved! When your child wants to get dressed, they can choose whichever bagged outfit they want from the drawer that matches the weather. The one rule is that they cannot mix and match from different bags. This gives the child the choice in what they wear; but you, Mommy, are ultimately in control.
It also guarantees clean undies every day! Can't beat that!
6 comments:
this is such a great idea! I wonder if I'll have this issue with Rachel as she gets older, because right now, she could care less what she wears. She wants me to pick out her clothes and then she goes on and on about how "you picked the prettiest outfit, Mom!" :)
I keep wondering if "that" day will come.
I love this idea though!
Love it! I do this when the girls visit their grandparents, but didn't think about doing it for everyday life - great idea!
That's brilliant, but sounds like a LOT of work, lol. I'm not sure I could keep up with that.
I do try to put things together in sets in their drawers. And right now we have a warm weather drawer and a cool weather drawer. So maybe the bags aren't so much more work.
THANKS!
This is a great idea! I just started hanging outfits together on the same hanger, pants and shirts, but having socks and undies together and also having them separated by weather is a great idea!
now that is dedication and something I should really consider..my boys no problem..my girl uhn..yeah I have a problem with the craziness she comes up with at only 4!
Great idea. I've also heard of people getting a hanging sweater box thingy (you can get them at Target or just about any household storage store) and placing an outfit in each slot. It holds about a week's worth of outfits.
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