Independent 4 yo

meghans30

My 4 yo old has recently figured out that he is independent. He now has an opinion about which shirt, what color coat, and apparently the type of sneakers he wants. I bought him a new pair of Nike's on Thursday from a small shoe store . . . He has never cared what was on his feet, but some reason refused to wear the sneakers. Luckily they let us return them, but he is still not thrilled about the shoes. I will not return them again! Is this typical for this age? He has a severe language delay, so I feel like he may be a bit behind, but I'm starting to miss the time when I could dress him the way I pleased. I'm trying to focus on the important issues and not on the fact that he does not know how to match or that clothing does eventually need to be washed.

oparcm

I don't know if my dd is just difficult in that way but she's been like that about clothes since she was about 23 months.  Now at 3 she's a little better but that is because we put outfits together on laundry day, group them and as we go through the week she picks from the group.  This has avoided some of the fits she would have.  I know that as a kid, I'd wear anything.  I don't know where my dd got her fashion rules from but the system works.

vtgirl

Well I wouldn't worry about the clothes matching at all and as far as the shoes- is he picking them out and not wearing them or are you? I would let him choose a pair he loves and see if that helps. It sounds like he is just trying to express himself. GL!

shouldbeworkin

I guess just try to use it to your advantage.  If he wants to be independent, let him start doing more for himself.  It's good prep for him for kindergarten.  It's frustrating, but it's a good thing too.  Not so good when you're trying to get out of the house in a rush, but good overall. 

Oh and, hide anything you don't want him to wear.  ;-)

meghans30

I made the mistake of picking the shoes, so I thought I give in and let him pick the new pair. I think he just wanted to look at all the shoe boxes! We  ended up with the same shoe, but in a different color pattern. I warned him that he will wear these shoes! And I will start hiding the clothes I don't want him to wear