Pink, twirly and puffed sleeves.

I must admit I was a little shocked at how young our first born was when she developed an opinion. She was 6 weeks old and had decided she only liked to feed from one side. I tried everything to trick to eat from both sides and there were a few times I was grateful we had a pump. By 3 months we had convinced her that she should re-think her position.

Now she is four and for the last year and a half she has been sharing her opinions. She has many opinions. I really shouldn't be surprised. I have many opinions and her Dad is one of the most stubborn people I know. Most people don't believe me when I tell them that Karl is more stubborn than me but the fact is that I am more likely to change my position before him. We both have our "things" that we just won't let go of. Some might call them grudges. Ask Karl about the time he got potato chips when he was expecting french fries or about the hair stylist who put mousse in his hair. The point is that our daughter is a product of both of us. She is passionately opinionated and super stubborn. Both qualities have their place (like standing up for yourself when faced with peer pressure) however... well let me give you an example.

TESLA'S GUIDE TO GETTING DRESSED

• Dresses must be worn every day. Preferrably sun dresses.
• It must be pink.
• And have puffy sleaves or no sleaves.
• And be twirly.
• Shirts are not worn with dresses; so no jumpers. This rule also includes sun dresses.
• Pants are not worn with dresses
• Only tights with feet can be worn otherwise they are considered pants.
• Dresses must meet all criteria

This would be fine if she had 7 pink, twirly, puffy sleaved dresses and our weather didn't go down to -30. Every morning we have the same discussion and the result is that her sun dresses are hidden. Gone! Some dresses have been dirty for a while. She has missed preschool because she took too long getting dressed. She has been cold. She has been angry. She has worn pants! Did I mention she has been angry?

My friends laugh. My parents tell us to take away the choices. Karl's mom keeps giving her dresses. And we keep working with her.

I love my daugher. She is bright and fun. She is creative and talkative. She wants to be a princess and look like a princess and I can't fault her for wanting to be special and feel pretty. At somepoint she will have to learn practicality and reasoning and flexibilty but I'm pretty sure we are still a long ways away from that... at least about dresses.