Oh, life with girls! The fashion drama has already begun, folks, and it is NOT fun. ;)
So far I’ve been pretty lucky that Emma Vance hasn’t cared much for what I dress her in. However, over the past few months she’s become a lot more vocal about her clothes, and her standards are pretty high. Her requirements include that her outfit must:
1. Be a dress
2. Have no buttons
3. Have no zippers
4. Have lots of sparkles
5. Be pink or blue (her favorite colors)
6. Be chosen exclusively by her
7. Suit her whims for the moment she chooses it
It’s not an easy list to live up to, that’s for sure!
In an effort to appease my headstrong preschooler, I try to let E.V. pick her clothes a few times a week. Honestly, I’d let her choose more often if it didn’t take so long. (She ends up changing several times most mornings, which is too time consuming when we need to get out that door ASAP.)
Knowing that Picture Day was coming up at preschool, I started talking to Emma Vance about her Wednesday outfit early on, and we made a deal that she could pick out her outfits Monday and Tuesday, but it was Mommy’s choice on Wednesday — no complaints, no whining, no tears. She agreed. We shook on it. And Monday and Tuesday I lived up to my end of the bargain. Then, this morning rolled around and I held my breath. You never know which way the chip is going to fall with threenagers. I cautiously woke up my eldest child, ushered a sleepy girl into the shower and then gently brushed, dried and curled her hair. I pulled out her Picture Day dress, and she grinned when she saw it.
“See, it has no zippers or buttons, is light blue and has…UNICORNS on it! Yay!” I encouraged her.
She was thrilled! I breathed a sigh of relief. All suited up, we headed down the stairs. I couldn’t have asked for a better morning…until we got to the bottom of the staircase.
I’m not sure what happened on Stair 14, but without warning there were tears and gnashing of teeth. Complaints and whining and begging ensued. At one point she was laying on the floor, scrunching up her perfectly curled hair. *Sigh.* We had a heart-to-heart about our deal, and after a few minutes (and, truthfully, some Goldfish-based bribery) we were back on track. So much for a drama-free Picture Day! By the time we made it to school, E.V. was all smiles, and we were all happy.
Typically I don’t buy the individual preschool pictures and just opt to purchase the class photo, so in an effort to maximize my 20+ minutes spent taming E.V.’s hair (and Cricket’s pigtails) this morning, here are our Picture Day photos for the 2015-2016 school year!