Opinionated child #4

Have I mentioned lately my troubles with my youngest lately? Not specifically troubles I guess, but mostly a difference in opinion between her and I.

Molly has decided to be particularly difficult everyday. With everything. Maybe she's gearing up for kindergarten, or maybe the "stress" of being the baby of the family has encouraged her to speak up a bit. Not that she's ever had trouble with that...she's always been a brute, she's had to be, being the youngest.

So anyway, I'm used to picking out Molly's clothes for her. I set them out, she wears them. No longer does that work. My girl refuses to wear anything other than skirts. That's skirts. Not dresses, not shorts and shirts, but SKIRTS. That wouldn't be that big of a deal, except she only owns 2-3 skirts. And I don't do laundry everyday, so there's always the possibility of a temper tantrum.

The other day we were headed out for family therapy and her skirts were in the wash, so I put out this really cute shorts and shirt outfit. She flatout refused to wear it. It doesn't even work to "let her choose" some shorts and shirt, because if there aren't any skirts in her closet, she freaks. Anyway, I practically had to take her out in her underwear, because she threw such a fit I was about to go crazy. I tried being the "firm" mother by just telling her she was going to wear shorts, I tried dressing her myself, I tried bribing her.

I ended up taking a skirt out of the laundry pile. I don't want her to think she can have her own way, but at the same time, I don't know what else to do. I figure though, I need to pick my battles. This weekend, since she needs clothes to start out the school year anyway, I'm going to the mall to find some clearance deals on SKIRTS. And I'm going to stock up, cause who knows how long this craziness will last!