I think I’ve mentioned before that my youngest daughter is picky about what t-shirt and jeans she wears (and that’s ALL she wears). She’s had a dress on ONCE since 2nd grade. Not that I didn’t try to get her to wear skirts or dresses. I did. This is just one child that didn’t want ANYTHING to do with either one and she was extremely picky about what she DID wear from the 2nd grade onward.

Sometime during her 2nd grade year, I remember one morning while trying to get everyone fed and off to school, I went to check on her to see how she was coming along with getting dressed. To my dismay, she was sitting in the middle of the floor in her underwear and socks, arms folded over her chest, mad as a wet hen. I asked what was wrong and she responded that she had nothing to wear. This, AFTER we had been through what she was going to wear the night BEFORE and she had AGREED to it.

We went a few rounds and what she wanted to wear and what she didn’t want to wear. And with each round, I was steady losing my patience with the half naked kid on the floor. Needless to say, I was losing the battle and running out of time. I finally threw my hands up in total frustration and told her to put on anything as long as she had some clothes on and left the room.

After giving her plenty of time to get dressed, I went back in the room to check her progress. Imagine my surprise when I found her still sitting in the same place with no more clothes on than she had on to begin with. I promptly loss what little bit of patience I had left and started dressing her myself. If you’ve ever tried to dress a mule then you know exactly how it was with me trying to dress my daughter that morning. I had to struggle to put her socks on her feet. Every time I’d try, she would spread her toes, making almost impossible to get them on but I finally held her toes together and slid her socks on her feet. The pants were next and they were no easier than the socks. Imagine putting pants on a moving 2x4. It sucks!! And the shirt…..OMG……..I had NO IDEA how strong a 7 year old skinny little girl could be!!!! I tried to get her arms in the sleeves of her shirt and it was a chore. By the time I got her shoes on and tied, I needed a nap. That was like a workout from hell.

I left the room, telling her to hurry up and get her bookbag so she wouldn’t miss the bus then I went to round the other two kids up. As we were getting ready to walk out the door, I call for my youngest daughter but no such luck. I tell the other two kids to get in the car and I went to see what was keeping my youngest daughter. I walked into her room instantly felt the anger settle over me as I saw her sitting in the floor............once again in her underwear and socks.

I was beyond any mention of what one might call ‘normal anger’ and I didn’t dare even TRY to dress her again or say too much to her. I just looked at her and told her she had two minutes to put something, anything on her body or she was going to school in her underwear and socks.

She must have realized that she had pushed me way too far and that I meant what I said because she came out not 30 seconds later fully clothed.

That was my youngest daughter at age 7. Ten years later, at age 17, the only difference is that I don’t physically have to dress her but she’s still just as picky and as stubborn as she was.


Her graduation is coming up and they are REQUIRED to dress up in order to participate in some of the senior activities at school. She needed dress clothes by last Friday, so my mother took her out Thursday, while I was at work, trying to find her something to wear. She comes back with a pair of white dress pants…No shirt, no shoes to go with the pants.

Later the same evening, she decides that she no longer likes the white pants she’s had in her possession for a whole 3 hours. She asked me if she could take them back to get another pair and also get a shirt and shoes while she was there (which kills me since she should’ve done all of that earlier when she was there). So her and my oldest daughter were off to the mall on a mission for a graduation outfit.

After being gone for FOUR hours……..guess what she comes home with………..

A white shirt!!!

No pants!!!

No shoes!!!

Just a white shirt!!!

So it was after 10 O’clock on Thursday evening and every other clothing store was closed. Friday is when she NEEDED the outfit to take a class picture with the cap and gown on. So……….Yep…you guessed it. She’s not going to be in the picture since she didn’t have dress clothes.

This only comes as a mild shock since her senior picture won’t be in the yearbook either. She decided she just didn’t want to have one taken……….so……….she didn’t. The only pictures I’ll have to prove that my daughter is/was a senior will be the ones that I take the day of graduation. Which I guess in the whole scheme of things is the only ones that really matter.