Family Alive

(*I found this in my drafts folder from mid-October… it was funny to read, and I’ll add a little commentary to the end…)

It was a lovely, rainy, cool fall day here.  Though it’s mid-October, our past couple weeks have been HOT, like mid 80’s.  Analise has had “fashion” problems every morning, and I’m not sure how we’re going to make it through the winter.  She doesn’t want to wear anything but dresses.  She had plenty of summer dresses, and most of the twirled.  But I’ve put away most of the summer clothes, because it’s supposed to be fall, along with the fact that she’s had a growth spurt and most of them are too short.  So we quickly wear out our short supply of appropriate warm-weather dresses before they’re clean again, and then we have problems.

She picks out the winter dresses, like corduroy, denim and long sleeves.  And though it’s fine in the coolish-mornings, by the time she goes out to the playground at noon and it’s 85, she’ll be overheated.  When I pick her up at 1:30, she’s always red-faced and sweaty anyway.  Not going to work.  So I point her towards her drawer of skirts and tops, or I pick out a cute shirt and pants.  No way.  She’s been so upset these past few mornings at her lack of options, it’s hard to believe clothing is causing such a fuss.  Ug.  Maybe fall will come soon so she can start wearing the other dresses hanging in her closet.  And maybe I shouldn’t bother getting her anything that ISN’T a dress for the spring and size 5T.  Unless, of course, she determines she doesn’t want to wear dresses any more.  Then we’d be in trouble!

**update from mid-January:  We’re still having the same dilemma.  It’s the dead of winter, which, in Alabama, means it can be in the 20’s in the morning when Analise goes to school and still in the 40-50’s by afternoon.  And they still go outside to play some days.  So we’ve been wearing the same dresses and tights all winter, and they’re wearing thing.  And short.  She’s sprouted a bit in the last couple months so that nearly all her 4T dresses (which is nearly everything!) are too short.  So Brian’s mom scoured the secondhand store clearance racks and found a few dresses to get us through to spring.  But, like I said in October, looks like I should ONLY be buying her dresses, and specifically ones that TWIRL, in 5T when the consignment sales start next month!  The fashion dilemmas of a 4 year-old girl… I can only imagine the issues we’ll have down the road!