Lessons Learned

We love Chloe. She is a sweet girl -- with a very strong will. But I am learning a lot from raising her. Take for example, the second day of school. She tried to put on the same outfit she had worn the first day. I told her you can't wear the same thing two days in a row. Ok, it was more like "YOU CAN'T WEAR THE SAME THING TWO DAYS IN A ROW!!!" I'm sure there's some kind of law regarding it, but the mom in me arose and realized that my daughters need for independence far outweighs any fashion laws that may exist. So, I let her wear whatever she wants. Which has turned out to be one particular dress. There are actually about 3 dresses she will wear, but most often it's just this one. She's had some kids at school who make fun of her for wearing dresses, but she's a strong little girl and doesn't care too much about what others think of her.


But there is one issue that goes beyond playground teasing... P.E. Along with her dress she has to wear flip flops. She can't stand the feel of socks or shoes on her feet. Her P.E. teacher doesn't really care what her feet feel like, she just wants Chloe to wear sneakers. She keeps giving her reminders, but Chloe ignores her. Her P.E. teacher is in our ward, so she stopped me after church one day to "inform" me of what's going on. I tried to tell her that I was well aware of the issue, but she was trying so hard to be polite that I don't think she was listening to me. She kept saying that she was sure Chloe just "forgot." Yeah right, that sweet little girls knows exactly what she's doing.

So, Thursday comes around (P.E. day). I talked Chloe into just putting her sneakers in her backpack and then she could change when it was time to go to P.E. Great idea, but it only works if Chloe remembers to put them on! Next Wednesday rolls around, and her teacher stops us on the school yard to tell Chloe that the next day was a "special day." She made the same suggestion I had, so when I told her we had already tried that she said she would remind Chloe and have her put her sneakers under her chair right when she got to school. It worked!! She wore her sneakers, not only to P.E., but for the rest of the day.

Two days later (Saturday), she was spending some time in her room. When she finally emerged, she came out in PANTS, a SHIRT, and SNEAKERS! Plus her hair all done up. She was a totally different Chloe. She was so cute, but I'm not sure why pants made her any cuter than her dress. It was just so weird. The best part was overhearing her say, "I'm so glad Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Renie made me wear sneakers."

Lesson #2: One day last week I walked Chloe to school, and I hung out with her in line like I always do. I noticed another girl in her class wearing a DRESS. I leaned down and whispered to Chloe, "Look, there's another girl wearing a dress! She must have thought you were so cool for wearing a dress that she wanted to be just like you. Now whenever those kids tease you about wearing a dress you can tell them someone else does too, and you won't feel alone." Chloe rolls her eyes at me, and through gritted teeth she says, "Mom, that's the girl that teases me." Hmmm... can you see the lesson that Chloe was able to learn from that? I hope so, and I hope that Chloe will always remember it.