lessons I've learned from my 4 year old

My 4 year old is crazy. There is really no other word to describe her. Okay, maybe a few more ;)
She has something with the clothes on her body. Don't know if it's sensory, OCD, behavior, or just her.  It drives us, mostly me, crazy.  It is hard. It is annoying and frustrating. I give up a LOT and she wins…a lot.  But I also pick my battles and the clothing one is almost out the door. Thru this trial of wills, I've learned a few things.

1. Never say Never.  I remember sitting in Relief society with my 4th as a baby. We were talking about modesty and how we teach it in our children. I commented that my girls didn't wear sleeveless…because if we start them young, it is a whole lot easier when they are older.  Here is my 4 year old's current "uniform." She's been wearing this for 2 weeks (with cleanings).

2. slow down. I go fast. I have a thought in my mind and I go with it.  I say "okay kids! pack up! we are headed to the …"  and we go. Well, we used to. Suddenly she has a clothing meltdown and can't find the perfect thing to wear. It doesn't matter if we've been prepping for school all morning and now it's time to head out the door. We don't need to rush. Move along? yes. Rush, no.

3. With Slow down, I've learned to prepare.  Every night now I ask "what are you wearing tomorrow?" I know what the answer will be…but I can still hope. This has made our mornings so much smoother. When we are rummaging through her clothing bucket (number 4) she tries on everything she can and cries and cries.  If we go it over the night before, she will sometimes surprise all of us and wear a shirt over her "blackish purple" tank top.

4. Normal for someone doesn't have to be normal for you.  She uses a clothing bucket. After picking up her dumped out drawers for the millionth time, I got a blue bucket and filled it with her clothes. Now it's easy to dump out and pick up…and it can easily be moved to my bedroom if she needs to change in my room.

5. Own your choices.  One day she was wearing the most horrendous outfit. Or so I thought. We were at the gym. This super trendy looking lady walks by and makes it a point to tell her how cute her clothes were. I smiled like "you're funny…" and then she said "that is such  fun outfit!"  Brooklyn BEAMED and I was grateful.  She owns her choices and that makes me a bit jealous.