Independence

As a mother I realize that Aric and Kellyn, because of their ages, are not allowed to make many decisions for themselves.  Ryan and I tell them what to drink, eat, when to go to bed, where they are going, etc.  One way in which I have relinquished control and allowed them to be independent is in deciding what clothes they wear.   After breakfast the kids get dressed for the day.  I usually don't have a problem with what Aric wears.  Sometimes the colors don't match, sometimes he wears a polo shirt with athletic pants, but usually he picks out the same three or four outfits.  Kellyn, well, she's a different story...

Kellyn doesn't like socks and will usually take them off within the first half hour of having them put on.  She prefers to pick out pajamas to wear all day.  Some days I indulge her and allow her to wear pajamas, other days it's more important that she pick out pants and a shirt.  When I get her past the pajama battle she will pick out a pair of pants and a jacket.  This always causes another battle to ensue when I pick out a shirt for her to wear under the jacket.  When I finally get her dressed this usually happens:

Pants and socks are gone.

She had been wearing those shoes, but kicked them off as I grabbed the camera.

The rest of us might be bundled up but Kellyn will run around without any pants on.  It's probably a good thing that she likes to wear jackets, then at least some part of her is warm.

Outfit of choice when we went outside to play yesterday.

One normally dressed kid.