my 5 yr old has her quirks and anxieties and obsessions... but her latest one is clothing related. she's always been EXTREMELY picky bout clothing. but the last year it's gotten so bad she is now down to ONE SKIRT and one pair of flip flops and ONE style shirt (thank God we have 4 of them b/c I bought one in every color as soon as i realized she liked it)
anyhow she refuses to wear ANYTHING else. at first I tried persuasion. then I tried bribing, then begging... then I finally decided i would just let it be thinking she would come around on her own. except she didn't. it's been over 2 months of wearing the same skirt every single day without fail and it's finally ripping. I know it's a matter of days before it's a goner. today she misplaced it for a couple of hrs we didn't know where it was (she was in her only PJ pants she will wear to bed) and she refused to leave the house even to go out and play with her friends in our yard. she said she'd just wait til it was found. when it was found it was dirty so she said she'd wait til it was clean... and she did. when it was clean she put it on and went outside. I was hoping the waiting while her friend were outside playing would make her want to just throw on something else - you know, like get caught up in the moment and just throw some clothe son real quick. but obviously that didn't work. she just stayed indoors!
now in a perfect world, that's totally fine. I honestly don't care what she wears so long as it isn't immodest or what have you. BUT.... I have to leave the house SOMETIMES! and she has to go with me... and aside from all of the "seatbelt wars" and all that, if her clothes rip and she refuses to leave the house I have no idea what to do!
trying to bully her into wearing clothes she doesn't want to only causes an anxiety attack. she just sobs and begs me not to make her - as if it was physically painful to her, so I know it's not just some crazy power struggle, she really agonizes about wearing other clothing. I just don't know how to respond. I want to help her through this. But I'm out of ideas and running out of patience!
thanks mamas.
anyhow she refuses to wear ANYTHING else. at first I tried persuasion. then I tried bribing, then begging... then I finally decided i would just let it be thinking she would come around on her own. except she didn't. it's been over 2 months of wearing the same skirt every single day without fail and it's finally ripping. I know it's a matter of days before it's a goner. today she misplaced it for a couple of hrs we didn't know where it was (she was in her only PJ pants she will wear to bed) and she refused to leave the house even to go out and play with her friends in our yard. she said she'd just wait til it was found. when it was found it was dirty so she said she'd wait til it was clean... and she did. when it was clean she put it on and went outside. I was hoping the waiting while her friend were outside playing would make her want to just throw on something else - you know, like get caught up in the moment and just throw some clothe son real quick. but obviously that didn't work. she just stayed indoors!
now in a perfect world, that's totally fine. I honestly don't care what she wears so long as it isn't immodest or what have you. BUT.... I have to leave the house SOMETIMES! and she has to go with me... and aside from all of the "seatbelt wars" and all that, if her clothes rip and she refuses to leave the house I have no idea what to do!
trying to bully her into wearing clothes she doesn't want to only causes an anxiety attack. she just sobs and begs me not to make her - as if it was physically painful to her, so I know it's not just some crazy power struggle, she really agonizes about wearing other clothing. I just don't know how to respond. I want to help her through this. But I'm out of ideas and running out of patience!
thanks mamas.
. obviously it wasn't anything i did or didn't do, but i'm so grateful that it happened! for her, i think control is a big thing, and maybe that little bit of control tipped the scales.
