a groundhog kind of morning

i'm sure everyone has seen the bill murray comedy, "groundhog day."

and if you haven't seen it (which you should), the basic premise is the main character reliving the same day over and over and over again.

that is what my mornings with hadley have become. and it is over something so simple. getting dressed. and when i say it is like a comedy movie, i should add there is nothing comical about our mornings together. it is sad. it is frustrating. it is testing. it is bring me to tears exhausting. it is oh so many things, comical not being one of them.

let me replay our mornings:

fight mom on fixing my hair  (the only thing hadley lets me do to her hair every day, besides brush it, is one little, lone braid on the left side of her hair. that is it. oh, how i get so jealous when i see other little toddlers with little buns and pigtails in their hair)

fight mom on pants

fight mom on socks

fight mom on shoes

really fight mom on shoes

fight mom on coat

it is the same thing. every. day. though saturday and sunday are a little easier when it comes to shoes at least because she will wear her crocs. of all the cute, stylish shoes she has to wear(toms, miniboden, chucks to name a few), it pains me to say she loves her crocs. she can't wear them to school so the struggle is worse on the weekdays.

i am not sure what the issue is either (other than the obvious strong-willed child syndrome). the only thing i can think of is that she is just so used to the easy summer attire she had been wearing since last april on. so maybe now pants, shirts, and socks all just feel too different for her, too constricting and tight. not sure about the shoe problem since she's been wearing shoes, oh i don't know, since birth. i love shoes. they are one of my favorite things to buy the girls. now she just doesn't want to wear them.

long sleeve shirts are pretty comical too. she does this thing now where she just pushes them up above her elbows 80's style. every day. every shirt.  i think she is trying to start a new thing among preschoolers.

pants. well i have tried many different styles thinking one may be better than another. i have tried leggings, yoga-style pants, jeans, cords, tights, footless tights, and capris. to her, they all stink. they all have to come off before they even get above her knees. she has two super cute pairs of overalls hanging in her closet. every time i take a pair out, she quickly takes the hanger from my hand, walks to caroline's room, and hangs them on caroline's dresser. every time. she doesn't even entertain the idea of overalls. all she wants to wear is skirts. exposed legs get so chilly in these fall temps. i just can't let her do it.

and let me tell you, i have tried so many different approaches to getting pants, shoes, and jackets on her. shoes are by far the hardest to work with. i have tried bribes. yup, i bribe her with tootsie rolls, cookies, m&m's, basically anything sweet. i am not above it. i have tried rationalizing. can you even do that with a two year old? i have tried yelling. i am not proud but it is just so infuriating in that moment. my voice seems to raise naturally as if she will hear me and actually listen. i have tried mean. eek. hang my head in shame, especially since this approach didn't even work. this morning i made her walk out to the car barefoot, feeling the bitter cold pavement under her little toddler feet, hoping it would  'click' and she'd realize the necessity in shoes. as i said, it did not work. don't try it. i have tried simple patience. not even close to working. plus, i feel everything moves at a much slower pace and still with nothing accomplished. i feel like i have tried so many measures to work with her, to do something so basic, so simple, as to get dressed and out-the-door ready every day. nothing is working.

let me add the range of styles for her shoes is wide- sneakers with laces, sneakers w velcro, slip-on sneakers, high top sneakers, boots, and toms. goal being a shoe w rubber soles.

i am ready to crack.

i have shed tears.

help a mom out!

do you have any ideas, suggestions, thoughts, words of wisdom, anything to help us out?