On Sunday I realized that the clock was ticking. 16-year-old-Boy won't be starting school until September 3rd, but was in need of some more clothes. He is about four inches taller now than he was last year at this time. I start work this week, so my schedule is about to become much more restricted. That meant mall time on Sunday, when every other family in southeast Michigan was doing their back-to-school shopping. I hate to shop.
18-year-old-Girl has enough clothes to cover a small Pacific Island nation. We have three different friends that have daughters slightly older than mine, with similar, waif-like builds, so we get bags of hand-me-downs that 18-year-old-Girl has always been happy to use. Then there are the clothes from Mrs. Kracker.
Thanksgiving, three years ago, we went to younger sister's house for dinner. In her bedroom, she had four large garbage bags of designer clothes that had once belonged to Uncle Kracker's wife. Uncle Kracker's mom was a friend of younger sister's friend's mom. Did you follow that? Neither did I. Everything fit like a glove. Except the brassieres, which obviously belonged on a surgically enhanced person, which 18-year-old-Girl is not.
Boys almost never get hand-me-downs because boys destroy their clothing. It is possible for boys to tear holes in the knees of their jeans within seconds of donning said jeans. They need to make Toughskins for teenagers. Or maybe Garanimals so he won't go out looking like a blind person dressed him. I'm sorry. That came out as an insult to blind people, who almost certainly coordinate better than my son does.
So we went to the mall. Specifically, the Eddie Bauer Outlet store. 16-year-old-Boy got two Henleys, two short-sleeve tees, one short sleeve button down, one short-sleeve polo, and two pairs of jeans, size 34 X 34. I suspect the jeans will be too short by Christmas. Hopefully he will be supporting himself by the time he requires clothes from the Big and Tall store. Long and lean that boy is.
Here's the best part. AFTER we got home, of course, 16-year-old-Boy decided he no longer wanted to wear baggy shirts, which is all he's worn for the last ten years. So the two Henleys and the polo? Need to be exchanged.
Here was the other bomb he dropped on the way home. "For my senior pictures, I want to wear a suit."
"You what? What suit? You don't have a suit!"
So we'll be doing some MORE shopping. I'm hoping to talk him into a navy blazer and some nice khaki dress pants, and he can wear them to his cousin's wedding in October, a month after senior pix. And then they will languish in his closet until they no longer fit, like every other semi-formal ensemble he's ever owned. Every wedding and funeral? New stuff.
Add to the list of the Boy's new clothes, one pair of black dress pants, two three-quarter length sleeve shirts, and a cable-knit cardigan for me. AND we got outta there for $200.00. Which I feel pretty good about, but I still hate to shop.
