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Well it went very well! As soon as he came in, he made a bee-line for the dress, as usual. I told him we needed to talk about dress up. (Mom heard the whole conversation and gave a thumbs up on the way out) This is how I explained it to him. "Boy X, I know you like to play dress up, but some of the new dress up clothes are getting torn because people play with other toys while wearing dress up clothes. From now on, dress up clothes must stay in the quiet area, so they don't get damaged. When you are done playing dress up in the quiet area, you hang them back up. If you want to play other things, you have to take dress up clothes off. If the dress gets ripped, it will have to get thrown away. See....look a loose thread already! So when you're done, you hang it up." He says ok. He puts on the dress. He admires himself in the mirror for awhile. He accesorizes and re-checks the mirror.
He plays with dolls and stuffed animals(they are in the quiet area too) and after 15 mins or so, starts to wander to the table where kids are doing puzzles. "Boy X, if you want to play puzzles, go hang up the dress." Him: "uhhhmmm I'm not done with it yet" me: ok, when you're done, come join us at the puzzle table." He lingers in the quiet area, dress on. Puzzles look soo fun though....he waits 5 more mins, takes the dress off and does some puzzles. NO TANTRUM!! About a half hour later, Girl X has the dress on. She has also been informed of the new rule, dress up clothes stay in the quiet area. Him: "is girl x allowed to play toys with the dress on?" Me: "nope". He is watching girl X like a hawk, but NO tantrums! Girl X is joined by Girl Y and also has a dress on. He watches intently. Girl X and Y are done in 10 mins. They put the dresses back. I praise them for doing a good job keeping dress up clothes in the quiet area. HE praises them too! About an hour later, the dress goes back on him. He stays put in quiet area. This time, he's done with it in 5 mins.
Now, if it continues to go this smoothly, the pink dress can stay and he can wear it within the limits of the quiet area. If not, and he regresses, the dress will get "torn" and disappear. If he (and all the other kids) are NOT allowed to wear the dress up stuff outside the quiet area, it will remove the enticement to go about his normal day wearing the pink dress. He wants to do activities and participate, he just wants to do them in a pink dress. But I am hoping this new policy will make the dress seem less attractive to him if he knows he can't wear it and play other things at the same time.
The Burning Question: do you all have a limit on when and where dress up clothes can be worn? I know its best to have most materials available for play at all times.... Do YOU all let kids dress up and stay dressed up while they do other activities? I am dying to know how you all handle dress up clothes! I have always let them play with dress up clothes freely, until the pink dress became an issue.
He plays with dolls and stuffed animals(they are in the quiet area too) and after 15 mins or so, starts to wander to the table where kids are doing puzzles. "Boy X, if you want to play puzzles, go hang up the dress." Him: "uhhhmmm I'm not done with it yet" me: ok, when you're done, come join us at the puzzle table." He lingers in the quiet area, dress on. Puzzles look soo fun though....he waits 5 more mins, takes the dress off and does some puzzles. NO TANTRUM!! About a half hour later, Girl X has the dress on. She has also been informed of the new rule, dress up clothes stay in the quiet area. Him: "is girl x allowed to play toys with the dress on?" Me: "nope". He is watching girl X like a hawk, but NO tantrums! Girl X is joined by Girl Y and also has a dress on. He watches intently. Girl X and Y are done in 10 mins. They put the dresses back. I praise them for doing a good job keeping dress up clothes in the quiet area. HE praises them too! About an hour later, the dress goes back on him. He stays put in quiet area. This time, he's done with it in 5 mins.
Now, if it continues to go this smoothly, the pink dress can stay and he can wear it within the limits of the quiet area. If not, and he regresses, the dress will get "torn" and disappear. If he (and all the other kids) are NOT allowed to wear the dress up stuff outside the quiet area, it will remove the enticement to go about his normal day wearing the pink dress. He wants to do activities and participate, he just wants to do them in a pink dress. But I am hoping this new policy will make the dress seem less attractive to him if he knows he can't wear it and play other things at the same time.
The Burning Question: do you all have a limit on when and where dress up clothes can be worn? I know its best to have most materials available for play at all times.... Do YOU all let kids dress up and stay dressed up while they do other activities? I am dying to know how you all handle dress up clothes! I have always let them play with dress up clothes freely, until the pink dress became an issue.
When they do not..the other child usually finds something else and forgets about the toy he or she wanted. There are toys that some children are attached to hence why I try to have more than one of everything. This was actually the first thing I was taught and my twins remind me of the rule on a daily basis :
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