Do you have trouble getting your school-age kids dressed and out the door? Maybe even your pre-teen or teenager? I will be the first to admit, that in addition to my Kindergarten and 1st grade sweeties, I have particular issues with my 7th grader who can supposedly dress herself. For instance, I don’t know on what planet any mother would let her child out the door in a short sleeve T-shirt while it’s snowing. So, I devised a plan for making sure my kids were organized and dressed appropriately, so I could get them to school on time with ease, and without a headache. Here is what I did, and you can, too:
- Create a Weather Spin Chart. I created a special chart with the different types of weather in our area. In each section, along with the weather description and correlating pictures, I have listed the appropriate clothing for that particular weather. Every night I check weather after they go to bed and I set the pointer on the correct weather for the next day. For whatever weather is in store, just one look at the chart lets them know what kind of clothing they are to be wearing for the day. So if its pointing to winter weather with snow or wind, they can see that they’d better have their heavy coats, hats and mittens to go with it. If it’s pointing to a happy bright yellow sun, shorts are in order. A cool blue wind with a sun would have a light jacket and pants on the chart, etc. You can use your imagination for your chart and adapt it to your regions weather patterns, but it definitely teaches the younger children how to dress themselves better, and keeps the “I didn’t know” excuses from perpetually flowing from the older kids’ mouths.
To create the chart: You can either create a pie chart with graphics on the computer and print it out, or create one by hand on your own with heavy poster board or construction paper (can be a great family project for younger kids). Draw pictures of your region’s type of weather, like raindrops, a rising thermostat for warmer weather, low thermostat for cold, snow, wind (wavy lines), etc. – or you can simple cut pictures out of magazines and print pictures from your computer, then glue them on your chart. Next, write the appropriate clothing for each type of weather, and if possible, laminate your chart (you can usually do this at your local office supply store). You also will want to make an arrow to uses as your pointer, which can be made out of the same paper as your chart, and you can laminate the arrow pointer at the same time as your pie chart. Then just make two small holes, one in the middle of the pie chart, and the other at the end of the arrow stem (the thinner part of the arrow that doesn’t point). Connect with a brad fastener to hold in place and your done!
- Dressing in Style. So you’ve got the type of clothes down, but the next battle is getting them to wear clothes that actually match. When one of my children was 3, she would only wear red… for 3 months straight. I guess that wasn’t so bad, because the clothes actually matched, but I didn’t have all red clothes and that led to the same 3 outfits (who knew it would go on for so long?). At 2 1/2 years, another child refused to wear any shirt except her tinkerbell pajama top, pelting out blood curdling screams every time I explained that it had to be washed.
The solution? A compromise. My younger kids can pick out one item of clothing each night — either a top or a bottom. It’s one or the other. This way my kids feel like they are expressing their own individuality, and I have the sanity of knowing they won’t walk out the door looking like a bad set of drapes.
Whatever you need to do to make yourself more sane, do it. You can use your creativity to show your kids who is in charge, without having to give ultimatums or endure daily conflict over the little things. Happy moms have happy kids!
