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Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
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on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
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This is what I said aloud to myself about 9 a.m. Saturday as I tried to buy school clothes for oldest. I mean I shopped for nearly two hours in one store and came out with just three shirts. And only one is really nice enough -- in my opinion -- to wear to school.
At 13, oldest doesn’t like shopping himself, hates it in fact, but is pretty particular about the clothes he wears. He wants to look cool, but not too cool. Older, but not too old. Put together but not too matchy.
Man, that’s hard to please.
But, I love to shop so I offer. Just sure that I’m going to find the coolest, yet cost-friendly, shirts that were ever made. The whole time I’m in the store I’m just thinking about how great it will be when I lay out an entire new wardrobe for his first two months in junior high and how he’ll love it all.
Did I mention I’m sending him to school bare chested?
In clothes his size, about a small or medium adult, seems like a skull or full skeleton is on just about everything. Sometimes the bones are surrounded by fire. Nice.
If not a skeleton, the words "Bar and Grill" is splashed on the front with some catchy name. Or, there’s plenty of cartoon characters from Snoopy and Spiderman to the Pillsbury Dough Boy. And don’t even get me started on those VANS shirts, or the ones with FORD in massive letters.
Now, I’m thinking a skeleton might not make a good impression with the Junior High principal who has never seen my son or his family. A little too bad boy or disrespectful, or a little too something. Same goes for the "Bar and Grill" signs. Especially the ones that have a full frosty mug on the front. Pretty sure that’s not Root Beer.
And cartoon characters? No matter how cool they look or how funny the slogan on the front is, oldest would rather wear a curtain.
Then there’s the whole thing about what if another kid has the same shirt. Man, remember when shopping hassles were little more than picking Elmo over Blues Clues?
Now I’ve got peer pressure to worry about. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the time that I bought oldest a run-of-the-mill shirt at Target once and one of his friends at the old school in Louisville had the same one. How was I supposed to know? The kid started picking on him. Not playing with him at recess. All because I bought my son a shirt that kid’s mom had also bought him. So we had similar tastes. Apparently that’s not cool.
When we moved here 4 ½ years ago, oldest threw the shirt in the dumpster. And he’s still haunted by the memories of the kid.
So I’m a little nervous buying clothes. In another year or two I’m sure oldest will want in on the shopping. Until then, I’m the one sifting through the skeletons and superheroes and trying to find something that my 13-year-old doesn’t think will put a target on his back. He just wants to blend in. Cool, but not too cool. Old but not too old. Put together but not too matchy.
I’m still opting for shirtless.
Who knew boys had as much trouble as girls? Maybe more since there are more options for girls, even if more expensive. I have only girls, and I came from a family of all girls, so you're in foreign territory for me. Have you tried the regular department stores, or are they skulled up, too? I'm with you on the skulls. They are all over the LITTLE girls clothes, too. Ugh.At 13, I'd let him figure it out. If he doesn't like to go shopping, I'd get what I like and if he doesn't like...well...next time he will go. Besides, I would wait until much later in the school year for new clothes..what may be in "style" in August could totally be out of style by October.I just took my 13yr old DS shopping for a few new tshirts and shorts for school yesterday. Fortunately he isn't overly worried about having the same shirt as someone else. We got by ok at Target. Most everything my son wears has soccer, Nike, Reebok or Adidas on it. I was floored yesterday when he picked out 2 tshirts that didn't have sports on it. Getting him to wear something other than athletic shorts is a fight I gave up two years ago. I did get him one pair of khaki cargo shorts. I'm not sure they'll be worn much, but for $8.99 it was worth a shot. So I totally feel your pain, and most the time it just means that unless he's with me I'm not buying him anything. I wonder if at some point he wear something other than athletic shorts and tshirts. Perhaps one day when he cares what the girls think of him it'll matter more. Hang in there!One other alternative to shirtless would be to "silkscreen" his own. Then he could really make his OWN statement. :-) Cool, but not too cool.I refuse to shop with DD12...she hates everything I show her! If I come home with something,she's perfectly happy. I let her Dad take her!give him in cash what you would spend, drop him off at the mall, and say "choose your own stuff". Ask for receipts so you know he spent it on clothes. That way, absolutely no complaints, because he picked it all out himself.I'd make it easy on yourself. Give him a set $$ amount and set him loose online to shop. (He can pick things out, you can enter the cc info online) Chances are no one else at school will have the same thing and he can be as picky as he wants without ever leaving home.Enough tattoos and it will look like a shirt or swim supermodels opt for the painted-on shirt thing. I agree most T-shirt "options" for boys or girls in stores right now are pretty silly. We did get the girls spray painted Tees at a theme park this summer which was unique.I'm not sure what mall you are closest to but Hot Topic and Rue 21 has T-shirts. Some have the dumb cartoons and some are really neat. You could wait a few days just so he could "scope" people out to make sure when you do take him shopping, there are no duplicates. I will be shopping for my 13 yr old daughter soon and trying to find shorts that go way longer than the fingertips is our problem.Go to Plato's Closet or Ditto. They have the "cool" stuff kids like, Hollister, Aeropostle, etc, at much better prices. If you hit the Aeropotle store sales right, you can get T's at good prices.Oh man I know what you mean. DS13 hit this at the beginning of last summer. He came out of 6th grade a teenager. NONE of his shirts were cool. He hasn't worn a cartoon character since. Even Star Wars that he loves. From the description sounds like you were at Penny's. Been there done that. He has a few collared shirts but he won't were those unless I pull it out of his closet and he has no time in the morning to pick another. One thing he will were is sports tees. He loves KU anything. Plus his when his dad travels he buys him college team tee's. But he has to be careful because DS won't wear a team that his friends don't like. What I have to do a lot is go shopping, buy a bunch and take it home. Then when he says he hates most of it, I just take it back. It is that or listen to him complain the whole time we are in the store.
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