No, she does not want to pierce or dye anything. As a matter of fact she does not want to do anything. She hates to do anything time consuming, or in her mind, a waste of time. She does not like to have her hair brushed. She does not feel it is necessary to wash her hair, face, or body. Teeth are for eating, not brushing, flossing or rinsing. Clothes should be reduced to the bare minimum required by the school. No socks, hair accessories, normal shoes, or undergarments.
Every night Dave, or I supervise shower time to make sure all necessary grooming is completed. I lay out every article of clothing I expect her to put on. We check and double check before we leave the house. In most battles the winner is determined by who has the best reasoning. Some battles are lost because as parents we are tired and sometimes she is just to incredibly sneaky.
No matter what I lay out for her to wear, I have to check and make sure she is putting everything on. The morning I caught her trying to skip the panties, she knew she had gone to far. I was shocked and appalled. My face said it all. She only tried that a handful of times. Once I understood she would only wear the Scooby Doo panties, that problem was solved. She feels the Scooby Doo panties are the only ones that "fit". Everything must fit a certain way.
Her closet is full of clothes she will not wear because they do not: fit, hang, hug, line up, feel, flow, ride or sit correctly. These battles not worth fighting, I will never win. They are sensory in nature. I could force her to wear anything I want, but she will; cry, fidget, disrupt and disrobe. One day she wore her jacket home with the "itchy" shirt stuffed in her back pack. So, I let her decide what she can tolerate. At this point she will not even try on anything denim.
She can only tolerate one type of sock, Bowling socks. Bowling socks are socks you buy at Shoe Carnival when she sneaks out of the house with no socks on and you are going bowling. Bowling socks are the only ones that lay the line across her toes correctly. When she runs low on bowling socks, because she takes them off when I am not looking, I go to Shoe Carnival and buy more.
Telling her to put on her socks, is followed by checking to make sure she has two on.I am still scarred by the Jumping Jack Bounce House incident. The owner was explaining to the kids they had to have socks on to jump. Audrey raised her hand to ask what would happen to someone with only one sock on. I literally yelled, " What are you talking about? Are you only wearing one sock?' She informed me, in front of all the other mothers, she always wore one sock. I only asked to see one sock, so she had started wearing just one. She was only six, She had totally outsmarted me. David tries to impress upon her that her shoes will stink if she does not wear socks. She knows her shoes will never last long enough to start stinking.
Shoes are an evolving compromise. She needs shoes she can take on and off easily. No velcro, per the Teacher's request.......rip.......rip.......rip.......rip. No shoe laces, she is a long way from trying to tie laces. No laces that don't require tying, they are always one pair of scissors away from the trash. No flip flops or sandals, she can take those off and lose them while walking. She just won't stop to put them back on. Rain Boots have proven to be the best. They are rugged, easy on and off, and fashionable. Wearing her rain boots to Church with her pretty dress, does make her look special, She is a true stand out. She is completely as made by God, and she is not letting any one forget that.
Getting her to Church in shoes does not guarantee she will come home with them. Sometimes she sneaks out to the car with one shoe on, because she does not want to bother with the other. That will make any morning fall apart. The last place I am going to look for her shoe is Church!
Today, she got me twice. Monday afternoon she attends tumbling class. She practices barefoot. She has gotten into a habit of carrying her shoes and socks to the car. Why put them on , just to take them off in five minutes. Today, she rushed to the car, ready to go. unusual, but nice for a change. Practice was fabulous. After practice we went to run an errand. We got out of the car, she walked across the parking lot barefoot. She did not bring them, because she does not like to carry them around EVERYWHERE she goes. I had THAT kid at the store today. Thankfully we only needed two things.
Later, we decided to go to Dairy Queen. Landon helped Dave and I rake the yard. We rewarded him with dinner and ice cream. I told Audrey to get dressed we were going to eat. She asked me if it was fast food. I said yes. she ran to the car. Again, unusual but nice. We park the car at Dairy Queen and get out. Audrey said, "Are we getting out? I thought you said we were having fast food." I said, This is fast food." She replied, "Fast food is when you drive through and take it home." She hopped out of the car barefoot. I had THAT kid at Dairy Queen.