Upon returning home from school recently, my oldest boy asked me if we could get him a pair of really tight jeans. Immediately, I felt my heart swell in my chest and the corners of my mouth start to turn downward. But before I could embrace my child and gush about how exciting it is for him to want to express himself through what clothes he shows up in, and if he thinks it’s hip or not, he was sure to tell me that this addition to his wardrobe would be for function only. The less amount of fabric around his legs with a skinny pair of jeans would surely  to make him run faster than that of his boot cut collection. My boot cut boy is turning skinny. But not for fashion.

All these images that came rushing to my mind of finding him cool shoes to match his skinny jeans were thwarted when he said, “And I must continue to wear my sneakers, Mom, because these are the only ones that make me fast.” 

So, you’re saying we can’t take a look at the shoes, then….? 

When my boy gets the way he wants it in his mind, well, that’s it folks. There’s rarely any stopping it or changing it. Gee, I wonder which parent he gets that trait from? 

I could only find one, single pair of jeans that fit the description he wanted and were his size. I had no idea what to expect when he would appear from the fitting room to show me.  He opened the fitting room door and to my delight, as my hands went right up to my heart, I said, “Oh!! They look so c….. They look GREAT!” Realizing now wasn’t the time to use the word cute on him. He told me he liked them. They were just what he had in mind. I told him that I liked them, too and that he looked very handsome in them. He told me handsome wouldn’t do, because he only wants to look fast. So, I told him he certainly did look fast. But he was so serious. Like this was all business. And I know it was…

I’ve been wondering lately where on earth I could have left my heart, but then I realized it must be on the floor of a Kohl’s fitting room.

I walked into the fitting room and did the mom thing of inspecting the fit and having him move around and adjust the waist. Then he turned around and his little hiney really did look so cute and I know that he would be mortified knowing I was writing this. But let me just tell you that skinny jeans fit differently than what we’re used to and the center of the rear-end part was just, well, off center, and they were quite snug, but then also crooked. And I just wanted to hug him close and straighten out his back side. Which, I did, but only by pulling on the belt loops a little. It’s fragile times we’re entering into here, my friends. I have to help him when ever I can, even if he doesn’t realize it.

And then, in keeping with my usual habits of torturing my own heart, I made myself remember when he was just a tiny guy and I dressed him and made sure everything on him was just so… I couldn’t help it, one event triggers another memory and then another…

It was important for him to test out his new jeans when we got home. He didn’t run in them to determine his speed, yet, but was quite satisfied with the range of movement he experienced in them. 

Much more movement, you see.

So, I ask you. How happy am I that my boy’s innocence is still so much in tact that his desire for a potentially hip and trendy fashion statement doesn’t even come close to outweighing his desire to increase his speed and better his ninja skills? ?

Very.