The Jeans

I knew that having a girl would come with it's challenges. I knew that at some point my daughter and I would argue over her choices in clothing. But nobody warned me that it would start in toddler hood.

Often Bella and go around and around over what she will wear for the day. Most of the time, I let her wear whatever she wants; my personal rule being that it's decent and clean and appropriate for the weather. Sometimes she goes to daycare in a cheetah print shirt, a Winnie-The-Pooh skirt, a tiara and rubber boots. That's fine, most of the other little girls there are dressed that way simply because their moms didn't' feel like fighting about it either.

Bella's daycare also has a preschool program, and the other day they had their class pictures. That morning, when I got her up for school, I explained to her that it was picture day and that I had a really cute outfit all picked out for her and that that was what she was going to wear. I was not going to negotiate it. Well, the shirt was ok to her, but she did NOT want to wear the pants. I didn't care, they were my favorite jeans of hers and that was what she was going to wear. She threw a fit, I dressed her anyway, and that was that.

I had my back to her while I dressed Rowan when Bella said, "Uh-oh, mom. I peed a little bit." I turned to see she had strategically wet her pants, not enough to gross herself out, but just enough that she knew I'd have to change her.

Have you heard that phrase, you choose your battles? Well, I chose that battle that day, and I decided it was a battle I was not going to loose. I took her pants off of her, stuck them under the faucet and scrubbed out the pee pee with soap, then dried them with my hairdryer and put them back on her.

I was really mad for about a nanosecond, but then secretly, deep down inside, I was actually kind of proud of her. She was clever enough to think her way out of a predicament. It was then that I knew I wouldn't have to worry much about her making her way in the world. That's my girl!