The yellow-haired child likes freedom - not quite the freedom of the Garden, but it's close. It's hard to keep clothes on her.
The boy and girl run around outside sometimes in skivvies and diapers - sometimes even while little frosty clouds form from the moist warmth of their breath. So I corral them inside and persuade them that perhaps a shirt would be appropriate. And they allow it - given the right kind and amount of persuasion. Perhaps if it were colder here. But even when they deign to wear clothes, it is temporary; and the girl, when she wears them, changes them frequently. Perhaps if she had less from which to choose.
In public, of course, it is easier to convince her of the propriety of clothes-wearing: I simply tell her that everyone will laugh at her if she goes out in only her underpants. The fear of universal mockery always seems to work in a pinch. And, at the same time, I am building a strong sense of confidence in her. It's virtually a win-win.
"You're the parent. Just put clothes on them for goodness' sake."
Well, yes, I could. But that would be one more thing for me to do, wouldn't it?
5 comments:
Same problem, different climate:
I have to plead with my son to wear a jacket if it is above twenty-five degrees or so. He just doesn't feel the need for one.
My daughter is easier. The first grade teacher won't allow the kids to go outside for recess if they don't have sjacket on, and fastened up to their chins. She never goes without.
The fourth grade teacher is a little more lax.
That would be jackets, not sjacket. Not sure how I managed that one.
Tano's quite the polar bear!
The kids are getting better about it as the temperature drops. Will actually puts a coat on over his diaper and wears shoes. Avery gets dressed up when it's cold enough.
Beauty of a typo, by the way - you don't see that every day.
This reminds me of all the excentricies of each child. The boy would wouldn't wear anything unless it had an animal's picture on it. The other boy who wore red cowboy boots with everything- especially shorts. The one who we fought for half an hour to get into clothes which practically had to be ducktaped on, and then screamed bloodly murder when it was time to remove them for a bath. The girl has a things with socks and tights that ties me up in knots when the first winter winds blow.
You're right, True, it's quite fascinating. And they're all pretty much hardwired for trouble.
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