So... the four of us finish breakfast and I innocently say, " Boys, put your dishes on the counter, then wash your hands and face. I am going to lay out your clothes."
Gabriel replies, " No thank shou (you) Mom. I am going to pick out something matching AND FANCY."
I answer, " Excellent Gabe!"
So I get myself dressed and come into the boys' room to this stylin' outfit. Those are blue sweats with green stitching, a cute walrus shirt with blue and green writing, a tie, sunvisor and a tanktop under it all (or cami as Gabe called it!) *** Now my saving grace was that the pants are WAY too short!!*** So I used all my savvy mama skills to play off of this and say, "Wow! You look amazing! One bummer though Bud, I think that you need some 5T pants. YOU GREW!!!! Let's find your 5T box and look and see if there is anything new AND FANCY that you might like." He knew that he would like anything better than his stylin' outfit until I brought out the BIG guns ~~ Khaki pants with embroidered puppies all over them. Whew!! Worked like a charm and he was ALL IN!!! He swapped his (capri) sweats for cute khakis, walrus shirt for a brown thermal and we were set. No fuss, just JOY.
I love parenting smarter, not harder. That will be my book ~ if I ever get around to writing one. You have to parent smarter. Make it seem like their idea. But really you are just guiding them where you want them to go. OH, us parents have to be SMART and SAVVY with our sweet, little rascals. Avoiding power struggles, savvily diverting attention and picking our battles.
And with that I am off to enjoy my lovies! Ciao!
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