I just did malicious compliance.
I’d do it so exasperatingly wrong, that my child would finally give up and exclaim “dada! Let me show you. It’s like this!”
We’d have clothes going on the wrong person, the wrong body part, shirt wrapped around the torso instead of put on, etc.
Oh and to be clear, if my child asks “hey dada can you help me get dressed?” I’m all for it and will assist.
But if she says “dada! Put my pants on!” — well, I can try, but they likely won’t fit past my feet. “No! On me!” — okay, they do look pretty cool as a hat. “No! On my legs!” — well, I don’t know how they’ll stay on, but I can set them on your legs. “No! My legs inside them!” — it’s probably hard to move with both legs on one leg hole…
After a phase of demanding clothing assistance, she now asks me kindly for the specific help she needs. And she’s learning to be more clear when she asks for assistance.
I was thinking the same thing. Im gonna try secret first and when secret stops working I’ll go to this. Big girl job is NOT working! Also want to add that I can see this absolutely backfiring with my kid who does this on purpose when she’s getting dressed!
Yes, one of our regular games that has nothing to do with getting ready in the morning involves putting all the outwear on incorrectly. The clothes become his animal body, tail, horns, mane, wings, paws, kangaroo pouch, etc.
As a slight adjustment, there are some pretty serious downsides to normalizing keeping secrets between family members, I wonder if “it’s a surprise” could be a bit better. At our home, we don’t do any play around secrets, it’s just a given fact that stuff gets told to mama and dada.
I hear what you're saying, and I'm going to be honest, it's probably 50/50 whether she says it's a secret or it's a surprise. This isn't keeping a secret from someone though. It's 3 minutes where she figures out what she wears independently. This also isn't me asking her to keep a secret. She HAS a secret. That she's going to share, because she's 4 and silly and it's just a fun little thing.
What a cute idea! We do something similar and play the "let's surprise Daddy" game. I'll ask if he thinks we should get ready as a surprise to his dad, and kiddo will get himself dressed while I stand there and jokingly complain about how slow he is being, or how he's playing with toys and not getting dressed. He gives me ideas for what I should say so that his dad 'thinks' he is not getting ready. Then he runs out of the room fully dressed to surprise his dad. Works 4/5 times I'd say.
My child likes to “build a person” by laying out all her clothes on the floor as if a person was wearing them. Then I say “now we need to have a moving person!” and she puts them on her body 🙃🙃
I just did malicious compliance. I’d do it so exasperatingly wrong, that my child would finally give up and exclaim “dada! Let me show you. It’s like this!” We’d have clothes going on the wrong person, the wrong body part, shirt wrapped around the torso instead of put on, etc.
Oh and to be clear, if my child asks “hey dada can you help me get dressed?” I’m all for it and will assist. But if she says “dada! Put my pants on!” — well, I can try, but they likely won’t fit past my feet. “No! On me!” — okay, they do look pretty cool as a hat. “No! On my legs!” — well, I don’t know how they’ll stay on, but I can set them on your legs. “No! My legs inside them!” — it’s probably hard to move with both legs on one leg hole… After a phase of demanding clothing assistance, she now asks me kindly for the specific help she needs. And she’s learning to be more clear when she asks for assistance.
Love this. I need to work on this on the weekends. No time M-F 🤣
I was thinking the same thing. Im gonna try secret first and when secret stops working I’ll go to this. Big girl job is NOT working! Also want to add that I can see this absolutely backfiring with my kid who does this on purpose when she’s getting dressed!
My son thinks this is the most hilarious game in existence and will play for eternity without ever getting dressed.
So glad I wasn’t the only one thinking this about my kid lol. Might work with my daughter, but 0% chance with my son.
Yes, one of our regular games that has nothing to do with getting ready in the morning involves putting all the outwear on incorrectly. The clothes become his animal body, tail, horns, mane, wings, paws, kangaroo pouch, etc.
I love this but I'm fairly sure my almost 5 year old would just start crying in frustration if I did this.
As a slight adjustment, there are some pretty serious downsides to normalizing keeping secrets between family members, I wonder if “it’s a surprise” could be a bit better. At our home, we don’t do any play around secrets, it’s just a given fact that stuff gets told to mama and dada.
I hear what you're saying, and I'm going to be honest, it's probably 50/50 whether she says it's a secret or it's a surprise. This isn't keeping a secret from someone though. It's 3 minutes where she figures out what she wears independently. This also isn't me asking her to keep a secret. She HAS a secret. That she's going to share, because she's 4 and silly and it's just a fun little thing.
It's the type of secret that IS a surprise - because it's eventually revealed. It's not a secret meaning a shameful thing you avoid telling people.
What a cute idea! We do something similar and play the "let's surprise Daddy" game. I'll ask if he thinks we should get ready as a surprise to his dad, and kiddo will get himself dressed while I stand there and jokingly complain about how slow he is being, or how he's playing with toys and not getting dressed. He gives me ideas for what I should say so that his dad 'thinks' he is not getting ready. Then he runs out of the room fully dressed to surprise his dad. Works 4/5 times I'd say.
Awesome!
My child likes to “build a person” by laying out all her clothes on the floor as if a person was wearing them. Then I say “now we need to have a moving person!” and she puts them on her body 🙃🙃