Boots or coat first? Help with boots? Want to put your boots on while I do?

[dexlor]

Can you get your boots on by the time I sing...(insert fave song of the minute)? Can you get your boots on by the time I count to 5? Response "Mommy, don't count" and "Nooo, don't sing".  DH and I give choices, advance warning, you name it. But the most frustrating part of our day is whenever we have to leave the house in the winter.  Our almost 3 year old has begun the demanding, my way or the highway, petulant, controlling, whiny, phase that I thought we'd be lucky enough to pass.  I can feel my irritation building as we're running late and she has still not put on her boots, coats, hat.  I already feel on edge because I've had bronchitis for over a month, am not crazy about my new job so have a short fuse.  So, when I go to leave the bathroom after braiding her hair and she yells "NO, ME FIRST!!!" (this after asking me to braid her hair when we're already running late and I asked her if she wanted me to braid it earlier).  I just need some tips that will work as I know this transition to getting ready to go is an age-old hassle most parents struggle with. 

Any tips that have worked with your toddies, please pass on :)

[pbjmama]

If choices are not working I usually say something like you need to get on your boots. If you do not do it by the time X then I will help you do it. I find at

At some point I place a limit and stick to it. Sometimes my kids resist, cry, scream, etc. I don't force coats or hats on but I do insist on shoes and take the others. I have a garage some some protection if we are going out.

[ScottyG]

I try to just get my toddler excited to go, and go with the "do you want to go listen to some songs in the car?  Then first you have to put your boots on."  But if that doesn't work, my choices are often more like, "Do you want to put your boots on now, or do you want me to put your boots on for you?"  That way it happens, no matter what.