Building My Own Beast

There are a few toddler bad habits we've been able to avoid by not allowing them in the first place. The twins have never slept in our bed. They only drink milk and water so we don't worry about having too much juice. They're on a good schedule for bath, tooth brushing, and bedtime so we're lucky and the routine usually goes pretty smoothly.

But I don't want to sound like I'm bragging because I've caused some of our biggest challenges myself. I'm so lucky to have a boy and a girl, but I've over indulged in some of the fun of having a girl. I've splurged on shoes and clothes for Chloe and not long ago I let her pick out her outfits in the morning. After breakfast she'd ask for a "pretty dress." This was the beginning of dresses only.  

At first it was fun and fine to let her pick out her clothes. Then I realized I'd given her too much control. One morning after being dressed, she got upset and decided she needed to change clothes. 

Then she wouldn't let me pick her outfits at all and it would take forever for her to decide what to wear. She'd stand in front of the closet, like most women have done, and just look back and forth over the clothes without ever making a decision. I'd pull a few outfits to choose from and still she couldn't make up her mind. It sounds kinda cute but really it was aggravating and time consuming.

I decided I just needed to pick an outfit and put it on her. Of course this did not sit well with our toddler fashion diva. For the past week I've pick her outfit and battled past the tantrums and tears without backing down. Sometimes I'll give in and let her pick out her shoes but then we end up with a spring flower top, bright green skirt, and her purple winter boots.

This drama was because of my own actions and now I'm having to work through the fussiness to get back to a normal morning routine. Each day it gets a little bit easier, but we're still working.