Mom comes up with genius hack to get kids to wear clothes they don’t like

This TikTok parent shared an ingenious hack for getting your kids to wear clothes they don’t want: Just put a Pokémon on it!

Katy-Robin Garton (@katyrobinbird) is a parent and TikToker whose kids are starting to get to the age where they have preferences about what they wear, which can make clothing shopping tricky.

Fortunately, Katy-Robin recently came up with a hack for getting her kids to wear clothes they don’t like, and it’s truly a game changer: She irons a patch with her kids’ favorite characters onto the clothes and voila! Suddenly, they love them!

@katyrobinbird

“Put a Pikachu on it” is my husband and my new inside joke. But seriously, the patch hack is a game changer. ✨ Since we’ve focused on hand me downs and buying used since my kiddos were babies it is all they know. So that’s not the issue. They don’t think twice when a pair of pants show up and I say, “This came from Bobby in Minnesota.” In fact they love the idea of a big kid pre-loving something they’ll use. It’s what they know. The issue is that as my kids have gotten older (and Emi since conception) they care more about the style, the colors, and the characters. They’ll browse the used kid clothing and gear apps with me and choose what catches their eye. However, when it comes to outerwear that I know works well and holds up, the selection isn’t as vast, and often is a hand me down for us, it becomes tricker. I’ve tried the, “this is what we have so this is what we will use,” but was finding it an ongoing struggle. And I’ll be honest, the character driven kid clothing market gets to me. It’s often overpriced and tacky, so there is that too. But I get it… clothing is a way many of us love to express ourselves- a creative extension of our inner story. So I decided not to fight that fight, but encourage letting them be them, but without giving up on my belief in hand me downs and buying used or the very practical belief that I don’t want to spend a ton of $$$ on things they’ll grow out of so quickly. For my son, he’s all about Pokemon right now and my daughter is all things My Little Ponies and Unicorns, and also Pokemon because her big brother loves it. So I tuned it to their preferences and bought patches, like a lot. And my world has changed. I wish someone would have shared this with me years ago, so now I’m sharing it with you all. #putapikachuonit #parenthack #parentinghacks #parentingtips #parentlife #momlife #honestmotherhood #irononpatches #pokemon #pikachu #buyused #handmedowns #raisingkids

♬ Storytelling – Adriel

The video begins with Katy-Robin standing in her kitchen with a red jacket spread out on the counter in front of her. The mom has a towel laid out over the jacket and is ironing a small section of the towel. “What are you doing?” Katy-Robin’s husband asks as he approaches his wife. 

“Elliot’s getting more particular about what he wears,” Katy-Robin explains as she continues to iron. “I got him this jacket and he won’t wear it.”

Then, Katy-Robin reveals that she has ironed a Pikachu patch onto the jacket. “I went online and I got a Pikachu patch,” she explains. “Because if there’s a Pikachu on it, he’ll love it.”

“Put a Pikachu on it!” Katy-Robin’s husband jokes. 

Katy-Robin laughs and continues to iron. “I actually bought a pack of 20 Pokémon patches,” the mom admits. “Anything he won’t wear that I want him to, I’m just going to put a Pokémon on it.”

But that’s not all! Katy-Robin reveals that she also purchased My Little Pony patches for her daughter! “I wish someone would have told me this years ago!” Katy-Robin exclaims. 

The video ends with Katy-Robin’s husband zooming in on the finished Pikachu patch. “It looks pretty good,” Katy-Robin says. 

Viewers applauded the genius hack and shared similar parenting hacks of their own. 

“I saw a woman put Paw Patrol stickers all over her food packages so her little one would eat ‘special Paw Patrol food,’” one viewer shared. 

“Gotta patch them all!” another viewer joked. 

“This is absolutely brilliant. Whoever is writing the parenting manual, add this immediately,” commented another TikToker.  

Getting kids to wear the clothes you choose can be tough, but when in doubt, just put a Pikachu on it! 

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