G - A - P spells ....

If you stick around and keep reading this blog, you are sooner or later going to notice something about the Big O. A certain something about his sense of style.

Rainman needed to get his boxers from K-Mart. The Big O, thank goodness, is not a K-Mart shopper. They say that the movie Rainman is full of stereotypes, but I have to say, in our case, that whole clothing thing is NOT one of them.


Can you spot that certain something? How 'bout that jacket? Yep, same one in every picture. And if you could see the rest of him, you'd see that the jeans are exactly the same, the shirt is exactly the same and the sneakers are exactly the same.

* EVERY * SINGLE * DAY *

And don't even get me started on the pajamas. He's worn the same pj's for about 2 years now. They're just a teensy bit small on him, ya think?



Thankfully, after a few mistaken forays into the world of hand-me-downs, I learned a few lessons.


1. Always buy NEW for the Big O, and make sure that the quality is good. Because when he decides something is going to be his FAVORITE, you need it to last a few months, maybe a year. Cheap clothes start to look really ratty after they have been washed and dried 100 times!


2. Always buy something that is available in multiples. Fishing through the laundry for those blasted pajamas has added more than a few gray hairs to my head. And of course they are from my friend in Scotland, so I could never find a second pair. Lesson learned!


3. And always buy something that you can stand to look at for at least a year. Even after a year, I don't get tired of those Boden monster shirts!



But wait!! Recently we had a breakthrough. The Big O decided he wanted to go shopping. I spent the day with my buddy at the outlets and let him pick out some new things. I was shocked that he was willing to try new things, and pleased as punch when he picked out these new pajamas at the Children's Place. And yes indeed, I got two pair! Woohoo, they fit!

I was hoping he'd be just as adventurous when we talked about replacing his jacket. He has had an aqua Gap hoodie for the last 2 years. I love aqua, but I was getting excited thinking about him in something green ... or maybe red. He spotted the Gap outlet across the parking lot. He spelled it out. "G-A-P, mom! I see G-A-P!!" I asked him if he wanted to go there and get a new jacket. He replied, "YEssss."

Visions of green fleece danced through my mind. Maybe we'd get two colors! Orange? Red maybe? Bye bye blue hoodie!! Gap outlet here we come!!

And then he said it. I should have known.

"G-A-P spells BLUE JACKET."

Yes, it does, son. (Sigh) And you look fab in it.

Hey, at least he has good taste.