Teach Your Kids to Get Dressed Alone (No Mommy Required)

Parents who approach getting dressed as a learning experience tend to encounter less frustration than those who expect their tots to have an inborn sense of style and an innate ability to fasten buttons.

Consider the task of independent dressing to be similar to learning the alphabet. If you are like most parents, you sang the alphabet to your child (many times) long before you expected him to repeat it back to you. And when he did, you found it quite adorable when his "l, m, n, o" came out as one big blur for months until he realized they are actually distinct letters. If you look at putting shoes on the wrong feet or mismatched socks in the same light, you'll be off to a great start. After all, putting one's best foot forward in this case means making a good effort—not doing it flawlessly, quickly, and with the right foot always ending up in the right shoe!