Up until recently, I was confident in the knowledge that Joseph’s clothes would be outgrown before they were outworn.
I’ve gotten into the habit of buying a couple pairs of jeans, a couple pairs of shorts, and a couple pairs of pants in any particular size. A collection of T-shirts and a pair of Chucks rounded out his “outfits”. I knew that by the time his clothes started to show signs of wear, he’d be in another size.
And, after the clothing extravaganza that was his 0-18 month wardrobes, I was relieved not to have a closet full of clothes only worn a handful of times.
Then, the other morning, while I was helping him tie his shoes, I noticed something.
“Joseph? Why are there holes in the bottom of your jeans?”
“I don’t know.”
Pulling his laces, I stopped and looked more closely at his shoes. “Why are there holes in the top of your shoes?”
“I don’t know.”
Frowning, I pondered the situation and came to a conclusion.
School.
Not only is he playing harder, but he’s playing rougher. He comes home with scraped arms, a dirty face, grass stained pants, and laces untied and nearly worn through – even though I double knotted them. Somehow, the difference in play from Preschool to Kindergarten can be measured by the wear on his clothes.
Two pairs of jeans are just not going to cut it. And if he thinks I’m going to buy him cargo pants – thin, easily torn cargo pants – well, I probably will. But I think I’ll try to find some with reinforced knees.
At the very least, there’s always patches.
Wait. Do they still make patches?
