it’s a snap

At the moment, snaps are the bane of my existence. Why is it, I ask myself as I dress my son in yet another snap-up outfit, that the majority of sleepers and rompers for the 18-month to two-year-old set are held together with snaps?

It was close to six months ago that Oliver found within himself the ability to do and undo (but mostly undo) snaps. By coincidence (or was it a cruel trick played on us by gift givers??) most of his pyjamas, and even one or two day outfits, are snapped, from top to bottom.

Faster than Houdini can my boy now escape from the constraints of his garments.

Don’t get me wrong – I appreciate that his fine motor skills are developing, and isn’t it amazing how his little fingers can be so nimble and fast with opening and closing all the snaps on a given outfit? But please, just please, can we stay dressed for longer than five minutes at a time?

My husband extols the virtues of snaps every time he has to dress our boy in an outfit with buttons. He thinks all outfits should come with snaps. For his convenience, of course, not Oliver’s.

I, on the other hand, think snaps should be banned.

I don’t know how many times I’ve checked in on Oliver before going to bed, to find him naked except his nappy (am dreading the day he figures out how that comes off) in his bed, uncovered and chilly. Redressing him without waking him up (and possibly starting the whole process over again) is quite the challenge and requires some pretty good fine motor skills on my part.

During the day, I have only to turn my back for a moment – perhaps long enough to dish out dinner, for example – and I return to a naked, diapered boy cavorting through the living room. Again.

On the upside, I’ve seen him take his sleepers out of the laundry and busy himself snapping and unsnapping them for a good hour at a time. He reminds me of a little old lady, busy at her embroidery. All he needs is a pair of reading glasses to wear low on his nose. Anyway, I even bring them along sometimes, to keep him quiet on walks or public occasions that require cooperation. While kids around him in church entertain themselves with real toys, Oliver can content himself with snaps.

Anyway, we’ve gotten some funny looks from people but – hey, if it does the job…

For the rest of the time, however, I’m toying with the idea of duct tape. See if he can escape that, too!