Remember the post I wrote recently about how it is sometimes hard to get the kids out of the house?
Most of the difficulty is that there are SO many steps involved in getting themselves ready.
This is what they have to accomplish:
- Put shoes on.
This single-part process is daunting. They just don’t know where to get started. (Left foot? Right foot? Forget it, this is too much work. I don’t wanna go.)
My friend Jen gave me the brilliant idea of just getting them into the car without their shoes. Once you arrive at the super fun location they’ll put their shoes on.
This is what happened…
I tell them we’re going to super fun place. Okay, it is actually just the market. But they like going to the market so it is more of a slightly fun place. I tell them to just hop in the car, no need for shoes now, I’ll bring them.
It works!
It is a rainbow moment! You know, when the sad clouds part and the beautiful rainbow and the happy sun arrive letting you know that everything is going to be okay? You know what I mean? Of course you do. Everyone has rainbow moments. If you haven’t had one lately you should totally order one. Tell the universe to send you one. It’s on me.
When we get there we hop out of the car and I tell them they need to put their shoes on to go inside.
Just my luck, there is even one of those “No shirt, no shoes, no service” signs. You can’t really argue with a sign. I mean, you can, but people will give you weird looks.
Neither kid argues!
But as Crappy Boy is putting his sandals on he says with a grin:
He was joking of course. He wasn’t wearing any pants.
LOL!!! I have the exact same problem and also the exact same smart-mouthed little boy! Are you sure you arent blogging about my sons and I? lol
Ha!
Cute, except I saw a guy at the book store the other day wearing boxer shorts and no pants!
AAAAhh! Thank you for making me laugh out of my gut today. So true.
If boys don’t wear pants in public, isn’t that a violation of a penal code? Ok, terrible off-color humor over…
Hahaha! I love it!
LOL! I hope people realize that in order to take full advantage of the smiles that crappy pictures provides, you have to read all the comments too. :))
I TOTALLY agree about reading all the comments, too. And that includes reading all 1500+ comments/stories for Amber to “illustrate.” What clever commenters she has!!!
Yes, I think Amber needs a permalink to the 1500 comments post so I can read them at my leisure.
Oh what is it about little boys and taking their pants off at any opportunity 🙂 Our little 15 month old revels in pantsless time.. heh
We had the same problem with one of ours around this age. It wasn’t a biggy until we were in a restaurant and he pulled them off… From then on, any time we left the house, he wore overalls.
It’s not just little boys…my niece LOVES no-pants time!
Oh this takes me back… when my son was a toddler, the refrain called out by his sister throughout the day was, “Mommy, Alex is naked again!”
LOL Ha made think of that stupid song “i’m sexy and I know it”….
We don’t bother with shoes for our 21mo old on our way out to the car, knowing he’ll remove both shoes AND socks before we get to our destination. It’s easier to FIND the shoes if they’re on the seat next to his carseat rather than flung to the depths of the van.
my daughter will be 2 next sunday and i usually wait until we get to the place to put her shoes on so they dont get lost or just taken off and thrown. if we are just going into walmart she will be in the basket the whole time so shoes are just for looks unless its winter (Im in texas), or if shes going to walk.
I have often thought about that same logic. Why is there not a requirement for pants? Good job Crappy Boy!
Epic!!!
hhahaha!! We figured this one out too. When we were in an apartment, it was not unusual to get into the elevator with a naked toddler. We were usually dressed before car seat time. Shoes had to wait till we got to our destination though 🙂
We stopped at a gas station this summer that said “Pants Required”. I don’t even want to know the story that prompted the creation of that sign!
Haha! It’s amazing how literal kids are…I love it! Our problem is putting socks on. My daugher HATES socks! This is fine in the Summer, but not so much in the Winter. It’s starting to get cold and that means socks…so my past few mornings have been a kick fest. The only time she is ok with socks is if they’re yellow (her favorite color). Perhaps I should just dress her in yellow everyday. Or just yellow socks. Hmmm…
I say go for the only yellow socks! The style now is anything that doesn’t match anyway. My boys would only wear certain socks–the toe seam had to almost be non existent. Once I found a brand they would wear, I would by lots of them!
My niece hated to wear socks because of the toe seam. My brilliant brother would just put them on her inside out. No problems then. Funny thing is he didn’t share the info with my sil for a couple of months. Instead, he let her fight with my niece to get the socks on until he came in to save the day with his daddy magic.
My kids live for the $1 socks from Target with Spiderman, the characters from Toy Story, etc. I don’t think they even OWN white socks anymore, thanks to their grandmother. LOL So I say go for the yellow ones also.
I think I will just do that…I’ll go buy 20 pairs of yellow socks. Maybe I’ll start calling her Miss Yellow Socks 🙂
Or change her name (temporarily) to Robin, and sing the Raffi song “Robin in the rain, mind your socks of yellow…” 🙂
Winter you can get shoes that go up higher than socks. Then it doesn’t matter what color they are. Boots are cute!
There is a book that our 2 year old loves, Lucky Socks, where the protagonist only wants his ‘lucky’ yellow socks, and trouble follows when the lucky socks go missing…
OMG I must have this book! My daughter loves books, let alone a book about lucky yellow socks!
Reminded me of the time I did that except … I forgot the shoes @ home!!!!! Thanks for the laughs.
Oh ya, been there. On the first leg of a *road trip,* of all things. I had to turn around and get them, 25 min into the trip. He told me at least 20 times, “It’s you’re fault, Mama. You forgot them!”
Oh ya, been there. On the first leg of a *road trip,* of all things. I had to turn around and get them, 25 min into the trip. He told me at least 20 times, “It’s your fault, Mama. You forgot them!”
… Then there was the time I just said, forget it, and stopped by Walmart and picked up a $5 pair rather than waste the gas.
*laughs* This is usually the way my son gets new shoes. All his other shoes are hand-me-downs. The other day I was all the way down our hill while walking him over to the mall, and realized I didn’t bring his shoes. We ended up stopping by Nordstrom and he got the cutest DC shoes. I justified it because his feet had been growing anyways and all the shoes that fit him well were at his daycare….
I was totally thinking that was how this story was going to end. Two happy kids and one mom kicking herself for having left the shoes at home or at the very least one shoe.
We do this too, except I put his shoes on him while he’s still strapped into the carseat. At least then he’s contained and can’t put up too much of a fight. 🙂
perfect! I’m totally trying this!
I always want to ask the clerk/server/whomever this same question….”so…as long as I have my shirt and shoes…but no pants…you still have to serve me right?”….so far, I haven’t been brave enough to be labeled “that mentally disturbed lady with no pants”
A *male* friend of mine actually went as “the pantless man” for Halloween once…
Good to know we’re not the only ones who have discovered waiting to put shoes on until destination! No more crying over shoes, and “I don’t wanna go’s!” Because that’s the obvious downward spiral… Plus – No digging around the car looking for the long lost thrown shoes that we spent 30 minutes fighting to get on. – Which means we’re now late. Anyways… Good job Crappy family 🙂
I actually dressed my 2 yr old foster child yesterday, shirt, shoes, sox, pants, and hair done, the whole nine yards. They were on their way to do a visit with Mom.
I am halfway to the dr with the other 2 kids, about 45 mins later, the transporter calls me and says, “Ms ___ is _____ potty trained now?”
“No, but we are working on it.” is my reply.
“Okay, well Mom says ____ doesn’t have on any pullup or a diaper, so she was wondering.”
I had put the child’s jeans on WITHOUT anything underneath. I now understand why the child was walking around, pulling at the jeans and looking at me funny prior to leaving the house. Yes, I am now waiting for a call from the case worker to discuss this with me. OH and IF said child had been potty trained, they would have had on underwear, NOT going COMMANDO to see Mom!!!!
It’s not just a boy thing.
My 2 year old daughter is anti-pants as well. However, she is pro-shoe. It’s not uncommon for her to be running around the house in a shirt, pull-up and either her knee-high black boots or her cowgirl boots.
YeeHAW.
LOL! We have the same thing over here– my 2yo son frequently wears pull-ups, a shirt, and fireman rain boots.
Naked with boots must be a toddler thing. Mine loves to wear nothing but his frog boots. Of course, they are the only piece of clothing he can get on without any help though he can get everything off on his own…
mine too!! He insists on a t shirt, pull up, and shoes (preferably muddy ones of course), but absolutely no pants
I just love reading your posts! Somehow you make real life seem so much more enjoyable and not so tedious. Rock on!
Nice! My son starts and ends the day with shoes… I actually hide them so I don’t have to put them on. My mother says I should enjoy it while it lasts, because it will not last but man… he won’t wear pants or a shirt but MUST wear his sneakers or boots!
At my son’s daycare they wear shoes only to go outside – which he LOVES – so he has mostly positive associations with shoes. Whenever we’re home and he’s bored, he says “Shoes?” And goes and gets my shoes, and his shoes, and pokes me with them until I put them on him and outside we go! However it is the REST of the clothes that he has troubles remembering need to go on first 😛
Language warning, because it’s Louis CK, but we have lived this. I get to think of this bit every. single. day.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt_dKh6gMws
Hahahahaha….. Thanks for sharing this link! You are awesome!! LOL
Hilarious!! Thanks.
Oh, yes, it WORKS! Also, I used to love my double jogger when they were younger. I’d stick all three in with or without shoes or proper clothes (i.e. dress up or diaper) and GO.
That is totally my 3 year old son. I spend so long fighting to get the shoes on him before we leave (or once we get there) that I’m late, cranky and exhausted. And as soon as I turn my back, he has taken them off again. -sigh- no rainbow moment for me
My oldest son (now 4) went through several months where he’d cry unless his shoes were ON…he even write them to bed and we would have to remove them in his sleep!
I love my kids to death, but when they have both gone to sleep for the night, especially if they’ve been high maintenance that day, that’s a little rainbow moment for us. 🙂
In our house I call out “Shoe Party!” when it’s time to leave. My 4 year old and two year old run to the door to see who can get them on the fastest. The four year old is the obvious winner most of the time since he can do his own shoes while my daughter still needs help. We have lots of “coat parties” as well! And yes, this works very well for us!
Also, my toddler is huge with big feet and is expected to still face backward although he’s the size of some 2.5 year olds…he fits much better without shoes and, anyway, if I put shoes on him, odds are he’s going to take them off in the car.
FWIW, in Sweden our children face backward until they are 4 years old. It isn’t the law, but it is a strong safety recommendation. The US APA has acknowledged it is safer until age 4 to be rear-facing…but won’t take the strong step of updating legislation. And my tall 3 and 4 year olds manage, with snow boots on. Although they still like to take their shoes off and throw them around the car!
Wow, rear-facing till four years old? My son is 4.5 and very tall, I couldn’t see him being agreeable to that. He has long legs and would be scrunched up and very uncomfortable.
That would be a total nightmare for deaf children and/or parents!! No eye contact or being able to see the face is horrible! I finally said to heck with the 20 lbs rule when my son was 15 months old and still just 18 or so lb.
I appreciate the safety factor, but it *has* to be balanced by the ‘sanity’ factor. I can hear my son, but I couldn’t tell the difference between his crying or laughing when he was a toddler.
(ok, my apologies. I’m on my “smart” phone and I know I have some typing below but I can’t get to it.
between his crying or singing
So funny! I keep a basket at the foot of each carseat with all of the shoes and socks we need for any occasion, then I don’t have shoes removed and flung at my head while I’m driving!
Can I be greedy and order one of those double rainbow moments?
Double rainbow all the way!
One of the only ays I can get my 5 year old to take a bath is to promise that they can play “naked boys running” afterwards ( which usually involves my 2 year old peeing on the floor somewhere but at least the rest of their bodies are clean, right?!)!
My 18 month old puts his shoes on before getting out of bed and doesn’t take them off until lying down that night. He is also insists on pants and shirt right now although that is a new phase, the shoes have been since he started walking at 9 months. It’s tears if a shoe gets taken off without his “permission”
I’m also one to put on our daughter’s shoes while she’s strapped into her carseat. Probably won’t be a good idea during winter though..
LMAO @ “He was joking of course. He wasn’t wearing any pants.”
And every single time we have to go somewhere, I have to make the horrible decision to a) encourage self-reliance by letting her dress herself or b) arrive on time with all of our body parts covered. ugh.
Living in sunny California putting shoes on in the car works well for us. When we get home I actually take them off in the car and leave them there for our next car trip. Works great for three kids 3 years and under. Lot less hassle and fight.
2 year old step daughter is in rainboot stage, which I’m mostly loving because she doesn’t fight putting shoes on as long as they are her rainboots, and they look adorable on her no matter what the outfit, and if it does look odd, I know all the other parents in the room understand. She does remove them in the car, but fortunately they go back on easily. Now for the bad news. My 3 sons, ages 17, 21 and 21 still take what seems like FOREVER to put shoes on before leaving the house with me. I don’t get it…I really don’t.
We just leave the shoes in the car. That way I am not searching through the entire house to find a pair that match. He takes them off while sitting in the car seat anyway, so he is always putting them back in the correct spot 🙂
No mention of pants on those signs always gave me a little grin, too.
My littlest one is like a few commenters above-loves the shoes and when he was little, cried when it was time to take them off. Now (shudder) I have to admit he uses crocs so he can slip them on/off himself.
my son has started asking for particular shirts and pants to wear. This morning was “pider man mummy?” Spiderman is in the wash baby, “nooooo mickey mouth, pider man!!”
Can I just point out, this is even more hilarious to read if you are British! I had to do a massive double take before I realised you weren’t using the British meaning of pants 😀
fill us in on the british meaning of “pants,” please!!!
Pants in the UK are undies. Also, in Australia we call flip flops “thongs”. You can imagine the look on the face of the salesperson at Harrods when my friend went in there looking for a pair of orange rubber thongs.
They also used to be called “thongs” in the US, so the older mommy generation may still use that term. Imagine the horror of a teenage girl I know when shopping for a summer wardrobe as her mom called out to her across a rack of clothing, “Honey, you’ll probably need a couple pairs of thongs, too. What color do you want?”
Haha! Love it.
underwear
so what do you call pants?
We call pants pants of course, but the things that go on over them and cover your whole leg are trousers.
I swear asking my daughter to hurry just makes her go slower. Found this app a couple of weeks ago. It. Is. magic.
http://www.swirlystudios.com/licketysplit/
Wow, even if this app doesn’t work, you have given me hope Jessica, thank you!!!!!
Got this APP, will try it tomorrow! Thank you!!!!!!!
What a golden moment!
We call our children who do this our “Loophole Kids,” always looking for some obscure angle that is technically still within the rules.
I found that me physically leaving the house “now” seemed to elicit an instand “putting shoes on” reaction. Only once did my oldest have to walk thru the snow in her socks to understand what I meant by “shoes-time”…
I used this tactic, until I FORGOT the shoes at home. Twice. After the second time (which was when I was dropping my daughter and husband off at the zoo on my way to a drs. appointment, and only realized the lack of shoes when we got all the way to the zoo) shoes are on before we leave the house, no matter what.
He wasn’t wearing any pants. HA! Cracked my shit up!
My good friend had her 1 year old son in her wedding and he was wearing a little tuxedo (adorable). After the ceremony at the reception, it was really ……REALLY hot (107F). We won’t go into what this did to my cute updo!!
Frickin Mother Nature, enemy of good hair.
ANYWAY, my friend thought her little boy looked uncomfortable so she took off his jacket and shirt. BUT, left his tuxedo pants and bowtie on. He looked like a cute, chubby little Chippendale dancer. I was half tempted to carry him around so wedding guests could shove dollar bills in his diaper.
Took my daughters out for a day in the country side. 4 y.o. saw all the sheep and wanted to play being a sheep. Great! Except that all she noticed about sheep was that they didn’t wear pants and they pooed in the grass. So that’s what she did.
O.M.G. That is HILARIOUS!!
BAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! You should try living in a cold climate. For 2/3 of the year I have to get piles and piles of warm stuff onto them. “Where is your other mitten?” “OH no! The baby got his hat off!”, etc etc 😀
My nephew used to think the actual word for shoes was shoes-on, because that’s what he always heard. “Go get your shoes-on.” Why don’t you have your shoes-on?”
Ha! My little daughter thought they were “sock-ons” for a long time!
We did this once years ago and thought we were so smart until we realized we left my son’s shoes at home.
I love your sandals!
Ohhhh, I LOVED this one…!!! Still laughing….
I have a similar story involving telling a friend who was in her 3rd week of potty training her son to just take his diapers off (at home, of course!). I’d done that with my oldest daughter when she refused to poop on the potty. When she needed to go pot one day after lunch, she was forced to go on the potty because of COURSE she wouldn’t poop on the floor. Well guess who pooped in his moms shoe in her closet? He is now a 37 yr. old police officer. Do you think that makes him the ORIGINAL “Crappy” boy?
I’ve been fighting this battle with my two year old EVERY TIME WE LEAVE THE HOUSE. I can’t believe it never occurred to me to just put the shoes on the child AT the destination! maybe while he’s still restrained in the car seat… AWESOME!!!
bwahahaha that is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My son is more comfortable in the car with his shoes off, so I often just take them along and put them on his feet after we’ve arrived at our destination and before I get him out of his car seat. This works well during the non-summer months, only if you are able to carry your child to the car, so their feet don’t get cold or wet.
I’ve tried that! And, as mom luck would have it…I forgot the shoes. >sigh<
Priceless!!
Haha! My 3 year old who is attempting to not be swayed by potty training peed his pants and I only had clean undies for him. They were the boxer brief kind, so, sure, they “looked” close bough to be shorts. We went to lunch at Taco Bell and my sister and I couldn’t stop laughing at him. The kid was clueless (he’s usually pants-less at home). I kept telling my sister at least he has a shirt and shoes on 🙂
Baahahahahhahaha!! Your kids say the BEST things!
Just live in Australia – no shoes is pretty much standard here- its that ‘I’ve just come from the beach look!’-except in the height of summer, when it is apparently absolutely essential to wear gum boots if you are 2 years old – 30+ degrees, on the beach in swimmers and gumboots..its a great look!
My almost 3 year old daughter never wears cloths, she is a proud “rudie nudie”. The other day she even impressed 2 rather conservative looks dads at the beach who were innocently playing catch with their little boys and she stood up doing an awesome straight wee, no squatting, just like a boy. Of course she didnt have any clothes on as usual.
What a talent, i hope she still has it when she is 16!
We did this with my not-quite-three year old, except it was her job to bring the shoes with. Of course, they got left home. Oh well, I said as we arrived at our church, no playing on the playground after. Playground after church is a huge drawcard, so I was surprised she took that news so well. Halfway through worship she sidled up to me and stage whispered: ‘Mum, I was thinking… I could stay here with Daddy and you could drive home and get my shoes’. Twenty minutes each way? I don’t think so. I do know that any time she starts with ‘I was thinking…’ we are in for a treat of preschool logic, though.
HA!
Our problem wasn’t so much the hassle of getting shoes on, but the hassle of having to reapply said shoes at every destination no matter the length of the drive. At about 1 year, little guy discovered the ability to remove shoes and socks and we could hear the velcro being ripped open even before we left the driveway. Living in cold climate at the time, shoes were NOT optional so we spent a lot of time with our bums sticking out of the car door in snow storms searching for lost socks. Try explaining to some random grandma in the grocery store parking lot why your baby has bare feet in a blizzard because he once again managed to lose both socks and a shoe in the 5 minute drive. We ended up keeping multiple pairs of spare socks in the car because our mini-Houdini could make those tiny little socks vanish into thin air.
smart-arsed kids. I got a couple of those too. And a smart-arsed husband too.
my husband saw the first picture with the no shoes sign and first comment out of his mouth was “it doesn’t say I have to wear pants” scroll down to picture two and I point out how his mind functions exactly like a 4 year old boy.
that’s a grown man fail.