Getting dressed

If you are parent to an older toddler, you know that getting the young'un dressed is one of the biggest time-sucks of the day. Now that the Nugget is physically capable of getting into his clothing, the biggest challenge is to keep him on task. He's liable to scamper off wearing a single sock. That would work if we were homebodies, but we like to get out and "do", so clothing is not optional. We have a variety of techniques and usually have to rotate them in and out of the routine to keep it fresh and interesting. It's exhausting, but I remind myself that someday he'll be a teenager and I won't get to do this anymore.

1. Bedtime Giraffe helps dress the Nugget. She especially likes to pull on one sock then watch him as he puts on the other.

2. The Nugget gets to choose one element of his outfit, usually a choice between 2 shirts. I pull the bottoms to match. He's much more apt to slip into clothing he's chosen himself. I also try to buy clothing with colors (purple, red, green) and patterns (animals, airplanes, trucks) that he likes. On Sunday, he gets to wear a "Daddy shirt" - golf shirt or button up - which gives him a big thrill.

3. We talk up all the fun things we are going to do as soon as he's dressed.

4. We corner him into a small space so he's less able to go streaking through the quad, into the gymnasium. The tiny bit of hallway between his bedroom and bathroom works well.

5. We make sound effects for each limb he puts through a piece of clothing, like an arm through a sleeve or a foot in a shoe.

6. The Nugget's current favorite game is the most complicated. He'll prompt us by saying, "Mommy sad. Mommy have a tear. There's no arm." I'll pretend to cry that there's no arm in this empty sleeve, then hoot and holler with joy when the arm finally pops through the sleeve! He'll clench his fists and laugh his maniacal laugh. The sequence is repeated for each arm, leg, and his head.