Slim Jeans

The search for jeans to fit my beanpole children. Perhaps search is an inadequate term, more like quest. The quest. Every year about this time I have to start thinking about who needs how many of which kinds of clothes for the fall and winter months. Normally I start this inventory and purchase process in September, but with family pictures being moved up because of the dental needs of a certain brown-haired daughter, I found myself needing to find jeans for Mark right now.

I have always had good luck in the past with Target. Their clothes seem to lean towards the normal sized kids, while Walmart's go for the hefty kids. It maybe that Walmart clothes are really normal and I have given birth to several stick children, but either way Target has worked best. That of course is where things gets fun because no matter what worked last year, kids are never the same size two years in a row. This is naturally a good thing, but still difficult for beanpoles. With David enjoying his early midlife crisis, I hauled all five kids to Target on Monday and scurried Mark through trying on five different brands/styles/sizes of jeans.

Straight leg, bootcut, slim, 7, 8, regular, loose! It's like a smorgasbord of jean choices for little boys! They all gave him that balloon pants look that screams My pants don't fit-pick on me!

(If you are feeling some very deep and buried issues about kids picking on other kids about their clothing you are very intuitive, but I really don't want to get into all of that right now:))

So we sadly left the store without jeans and I worried where I would try next.

I came home and measured his waist. Then I thought I would start checking online size charts to figure out what size they put him at. He is a 5, barely. For kids, sizes usually coordinate with their ages, so my almost 8 year old boy has the waist of a 5 year old boy. Great. He still has an eight year old legs. Then a ray of hope shone down (or out if you prefer from the glowing computer screen).

Old Navy. Could it be? The store I had dubbed as too expensive for me and with clothes sized for highly fashion conscious skinny people? oh yeah, skinny people! That's exactly what I have! Low and behold their size chart said that a 7 slim would have a waist of 21.5 inches and height measurements that match his height. So it was with great anxiety and anticipation that we arrived at Old Navy just as they opened this morning to attempt to get Mark jeans for the family picture as well as an outfit for his 8 year old pictures which we are doing at the same visit.

I picked out two pairs, one bootcut and one straight leg. The straight leg were the clear winners. We rushed back to grab a second pair cuz, who can beat 2 for 25 for boys jeans?! That's only 12.50 a piece which is actually less than the regular price for Target jeans that don't fit, and these actually fit. Plus I had a 10 percent off coupon, not a lot but it helps a little.

Almost happy ending. Two pairs of jeans that fit and a nice button down shirt that he and I both like (we rarely agree on fashion things, such as I don't consider olive green pants and a kelley green t shirt to be a good fashion statement). We got home and tried it all on again, just to be sure. He frowns. What?? What could possibly be wrong. "Mom, I really don't like light color jeans. I really like the dark ones." I had picked out one dark and one light for variety. He tried to tell me in the store, but I was in my "We're are done and out of here mode" and did not listen. I quickly reassured him that I was more than happy to take the light ones back and exchange them for dark ones. I certainly don't care what color they are as long as they fit! ahh. Victory.

Add to this lovely experience, a semi quick trip to a pool at a friend's apartment complex where, Peter refused to enter the pool, Luke screamed at the sight of water, I forgot to sunscreen myself and the other three whined about it not being shallow enough and that completes our morning and early afternoon.

We arrived home, ate lunch, had a what are we going to be for Halloween this year planning session-see poll to the left-and I colored my hair. (You see I did/botched a home highlighting kit last year which sort of reddish/blondish/bleached parts of my hair and it had grown out so that root to 6 inches down was my natural color and bone straight and 6 inches to tips was weird colored and damaged, which actually is good for my hair it gives it body. All the same I didn't want two toned hair for pictures) I am proud to have chemical stinky, but all one color hair now.

Then I started getting the kids ready for bed and noticed that some were hot and some were lying on the floor with headaches. Three out of five have fevers ranging from 99 to 101. This has been going on for a day or two now and I am almost certain it is just a bug since it isn't really bothering any of them very much, except Mark who has the headache and a cough. So I doled out the Tylenol, gave them water and put them to bed. Now I am off to clean up the kitchen and try and tie the twin sized quilt that is set up in my kitchen courtesy of the ward quilting group that was a near disaster last night. It could have been worse, but only if a rapid animal had clawed through the glass door and attacked. Anyway . . . .

David is camping up on Timp right now, though I fully expect to get a full blogged report when he gets home next week. Enjoy the evening and stay tuned for tomorrow's party: Playgroup and the Library. Will any have a near death experience? Will the books bring the needed solace?

Who knows? :)