Why Can’t They Just Get Dressed?

Some days getting my kids dressed is a full blown mission. And at 11, 9, 6 and 4 you would think it wouldn’t be that hard. I know perhaps if I sent them to school it would be easier because they would have to get dressed every day in the morning, but honestly between play-dates, errands and Girl Scouts they already have to get dressed on a regular basis most days.

But lately I don’t know if it’s because it’s the middle of winter and we had a cold winter to start with, or what exactly it is, but none of them want to get dressed in the morning, or at all. While honestly I really don’t care, – I mean at least pajamas cover all the important bits – lately I have found that the more they are in pajamas the more they fight and complain about not feeling well, and give me the worlds biggest sighs about doing the few chores we ask them to do do around the house. And just general prickliness. So really I think that asking them to get dressed, to make an effort to put more than one layer of clothes on would really help improve our day-to-day living.

They however could care less. Because I structure my day to get my client work done in the morning when at all possible, they are able to get away with not getting dressed until probably lunch time. I mean who really wants to fight with them about clothes? They have too many fucking clothes as it is and they are strewn all over my house, their bedrooms and are constantly in a state of needing to be washed or folded.

My hubby and I are super close to only letting them have three outfits for summer clothes this year because we are so tired of seeing the same clothes ending up in the to-be-washed pile, even though they haven’t actually been on a daughter’s body. Nope they haven’t been worn at all and yet there they are needing to be washed again because someone dropped them on the floor and walked on them, and no on really wants to be wearing stepped on clothes, do they?

But seriously what is it about not getting dressed? They would be warmer and less irritable if they had more layers on. Because we heat our house with fuel oil it is never going to be that warm in the winter, maybe if we used wood or solar power or something it would be, but as long as we are burning dead dinosaurs I am not turning the heat up. Sorry, you each have about a dozen sweatshirts/sweaters/jackets, so you really could just put another layer on. Not to mention everyone has multiple pairs of thermals. So seriously.

Recently all my hubby’s socks have gone missing. And I know I am suppose to care, because you know everyone should have socks, but since handing the laundry over to my 9 year old I have tried as much as possible to stay out of the whole laundry thing. But I think I am going to have to go hunting for socks for him this week. I don’t know where the hold up is, if they are not actually getting washed, or if they are not getting folded. Because my girls seem to think that they can ignore the rags, socks and handkerchiefs at the bottom of the laundry baskets until they fill half the basket and I complain I mean point out that they really should be folding and putting away those items as well.

By and large my hubby has socks all the same color so it’s not really a matter of trying to match up different pairs of socks. Of course it is possible that there is a stash somewhere in our room of socks that never made it to be washed in the first place. I will be looking for that stash, rather than focusing on other areas where the socks might be. Other locations that they could be hiding, sound like something the laundry processor and my husband need to deal with. Now if I can find where they haven’t been washed than that part of the problem could be solved by an adult. Potentially.

But seriously why not get dressed? You have plenty of clothes. You would think the duck loving girl would get dressed before going out to see her ducks, but since it is cold enough to warrant snow pants, she just puts her snow gear on top of her pajamas and away she goes never actually bothering to get dressed. What is more she is happily dressed quite early on weekends, there just seems to be something about weekdays when I am the only parent home, and where more often than not we do actually have someplace we need to be when they all refuse to get dressed.

I have even tried saying I won’t make lunch until people get dressed but that ends up just becoming the world’s biggest shit storm of unhappy girls and hangry people. I don’t try that threat anymore. And they do get dressed right before we walk out the door, but I feel like a lot of the angst and squabbling could have been avoid if only

They would get dressed!!!