School Rules RULE!!!

As you may recall from previous blogs, when I was a much more gung ho blogger a few short weeks ago, Patty defying the morning routine has been the cause of my now gray and silver strands of hair I am finding throughout my head as I sit at red lights in traffic peering into the vanity and I mean vanity with a capital V mirror. She was explosively opinionated and agitated with outfit choices and limitations, screaming and sobbing and flailing on the floor like a fish out of water for extra drama and effect, all for the love of Brittney Spears type outfits~ no, I wouldn't buy my 5 year old belly shirts, don't start tsking and shaking your head with worry, she was jones-ing for her bikini top with a skirt and flip flops combo. Strike a pose.

Before school started, we laid down the gigantic steel hammer with the School Rules:

1. No shoulders showing.

I lied a little on this one, but she can't read yet, so I'm safe for now. Really, it says "No spaghetti straps. Straps must be 3 fingers wide. " The no shoulders thing covers the complete tank top family just in case my fingers are smaller than the average fingers, and I just don't want to take any chances. This child digs tank tops.

2. No high heels, flip flops or sandals.

The high heels part is easy. Patty knows the plastic princess hooker heels, you know, the ones with the little fuzzy material on the toe, do not leave the house.

The flip flop part I thought would be a COMPLETE NIGHTMARE. Patty wore flip flops almost every day to preschool, even though, technically, it was against the rules. I was weak. Sue me. It was freakin' preschool, for crying out loud. Now we are in the "real world".

So we began the quest for shoes that hide her pink sparkly toenails that she is so proud of. Thank goodness, my mom and stepdad braved the storm or should I say braved the TSUNAMI and took her shopping to let her pick out some cool sneakers. Mission accomplished. She has happily put them on each day. For four measly days.

Then there were the socks. The child has hardly ever worn socks. The few times they were mandated, we were greeted with stomping, kicking feet in the face, screaming, "They have bumps!!!! BUMPS!!! WAAAA!!!!! So we have purchased a plethora of acceptable socks. Yahoo! They are bump free somehow. It's a miracle.

I had dinner with a mom of a fashion diva and she advised me on the choosing outfits drama:

Sunday night lay 10 outfit choices on the floor

Let her pick 5 outfit combos for the week.

Lay out the 5 choices THAT SHE PICKED on the dresser to sit there all week.

HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART:

Hide the rest of the clothes in her ENTIRE closet~ put them in your closet, in a storage box, wherever...out of sight. Out of reach. Out of negotiation.

She can mix and match the 5 outfits in any way, but whatever is left for Friday is left and that's it.

I bow down to this BRILLIANT mom: I'M NOT WORTHY, I'M NOT WORTHY! We have had a blissful 4 days. Too early to do the victory dance yet, but it's a start for sure! And I'm getting my grey colored on Saturday. Bottom line is that School Rules Rule.