Me Too!

My daughter is a real treat sometimes. It doesn't seem to matter what others are doing, she wants to do it too.

The other day, we went shopping. I was trying on some clothes to figure out which slacks I liked the best. She was in the fitting room with me. I told her that when I was done, we would go look at clothes for her and her brother. She indicated that she would try her clothes on too. So, I finished and we worked our way through the store, trying on shoes - she tried on the same pairs as me - even needed a footie. We checked out her section and the boy's section, picking up some things from the clearance racks for next year. As we headed towards the checkouts, I found some additional slacks that I wanted to try on. We headed back to the fitting room. As soon as we were in there, she began to undress and pull down all of the hangars with her stuff. Sure as she said, she was trying on her clothes. She put them on, looked in the mirror and took them off. What a hoot! My 2 year old was trying on clothes.

When it comes to being around her brother, it really brings out the "me too" trait in her. She seems to think that because her brother is almost 6, that she is too. As a parent, it can sometimes be a struggle to let her do some of what he does, while still keeping her safe and treating her like a 2 year old.

When we let him have an occasional "special drink" (soda), she wants one. I'm not going to give soda to a 2 year old, so we offered to let her have apple pop - a homemade mix of apple juice and club soda. She says its spicy - which I think is an interesting interpretation of the carbonation.

When my son brings something to school for a particular themed event, you better believe she needs to bring something too.

When he is swinging by himself on the swingset, she wants to too. Amazingly enough, she figured out on her own how to make herself continue to swing by leaning back and forth - without using her legs.

We went shopping for his birthday and are getting him a new bike. Guess who wants one for her birthday now too. We likely will put the training wheels back on his old bike and let her have that one, and maybe get her a pretty basket to hang on the front handlebars, to make it her's.

When he's riding his scooter, she wants to ride it too. I am happy to say that she will soon get her wish on this one, because I am going to be reviewing the Razor Jr Folding Kiddie Kick Scooter courtesy of All Children's Furniture. (All Children's Furniture - you wonder aloud? I was a little surprised to learn that they sell everything from kids chairs to toys.) I do like that the scooter is styled with three wheels, making it more stable for her than the standard two wheel scooter her brother has. I also was able to select it in pink, which is nice since even though she is a "me too" she is also all girl.

There are of course limitations and boundaries that we try to maintain. Afterall, she is just 2. Her brother is allowed to stay up later some nights (just 1/2 and hour), but she is not allowed, she can when she is older. He likes to take a shower on his own, she is not allowed to do it on her own, but can take one with me. He is allowed to occasionally chew gum, she is not. He is allowed to run out to the mailbox by himself, she needs someone to go with her.

With as much of a "me too" girl she is, I do try to encourage her when she does something uniquely her. She likes to choose her own clothes, and let me tell you, season and temperature play no role in her decision - she chose a warm up suit the day that it reached 90 here and I let her (I was practical and packed a pair of shorts for her to change into).

Letting her safely explore what others are doing and fostering her unique personality, works for me. For more tips and tricks, check out Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.