sun
tue mon
when your child wants wear
THE SAME CLOTHES EVERY DAY
BY GINA GALLUCCI-WHITE
Some kids
have an
outfit or
two that
they just
feel good
wearing.­ y 9-year-old daughter usu-
ally gets dressed for school
about 10 minutes before we
have to leave the house. Sometimes she
leaves herself even less time to get ready.

Luckily, getting dressed requires lit-
tle effort on her part. My daughter has a
few favorites she’ll wear once or twice a
week, including her “Art is my favorite
sport” and “Waiting on my Hogwarts let-
ter” T-shirts. As soon as I put them away
in her closet after doing laundry, she takes
them back out again.

So my daughter was confused when
her best friend recently asked her why
she wears the same clothes all the time.

Repeating outfits never mattered to her—
or to me. But should it?
“I would think the general rule of thumb
is that if it is not harming the child then
we should let it go,” says Brian Corrado,
PsyD, co-owner of The Bethesda Group in
Bethesda, Maryland. A child might wear
the same items of clothing multiple times
a week—or even every day—because they
are trying to understand who they are.

“That article of clothing is in some
ways part of their identity,” says
Corrado, explaining that some kids
have an outfit or two that they just feel
good wearing.

While teens and tweens like my
daughter may seem unfazed by their
wardrobe choices, parents might bris-
tle at seeing their child wear the same
items over and over again. They may be
concerned that other parents will think
they don’t buy their kids new clothes or
feel frustrated that they wasted money
on t-shirts, pants and shorts that were
never worn.

Corrado encourages parents to ask
their children directly why they like to
wear the same items over and over. If
they are concerned that repeating outfits
might mean something more, they should
look at the child’s behavior for a pattern
of inflexibility beyond getting dressed
that affects their functioning. If there isn’t
one, “parents are probably better off just
ensuring the child’s clothes are clean,”
says Corrado.

That said, parents may want to draw the
line if the family is attending an event with
a dress code, such as a wedding or holiday
party. “This is normative and important to
conform to some kind of societal expec-
tations and family expectations,” he says.

When meeting with his clients, Dr.

Daniel G. Shapiro, a developmental-
behavioral pediatrician in Rockville,
Maryland, doesn’t spend a lot of time
GIRL: ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS/LIGHTFIELDSTUDIOS; BOY: GETTY IMAGES/E+/JALLFREE
24 Washington FAMILY APRIL 2020