Chapter 29: Oh the things they do and say.......

So with the new school year fast approaching, all moms know what is to be done; buy new pencils, crayons, notebooks, shoes, shirts, socks, hair accessories, pants, socks, and underwear. Yes, I know I mentioned socks twice but hey when your kids go through them like mine do you need to buy twice as many. From the time that Bradley started pre-school I have tried to make back to school shopping an event that they will look forward to and also one that they will remember and hopefully have some "good" memories when they are older. On Wednesday it was the girls turn, we picked up the Patty's and headed off for our day of shopping til we dropped (and we literally did), what I learned about the girls is that; Lainee "loves, loves, loves" everything, and she "needs it" because "it is so adorable", one of the things I have always said is that I would never have a baby of the family, because they are always so spoiled and they always get more than the older ones, and although technically she didn't get everything she wanted, she did get more than she needed because after all she is the baby of my family. Kennadee loves trying on clothes, I wish I could do more to emphasize the word loves, I really thought that we were going to have to camp overnight at Old Navy so Kennadee and Makayla could finish trying on everything, I did have to giggle though as I am watching them in the dressing room, they would go in, you could see a whilrwind of activity for a long time and then they would suddenly appear and you would notice that they had only changed a shirt or that they had just layered a tank top over the top, it made you wonder what in the heck they were doing with all those clothes flying around. But to sum up my shopping experience with the girls you will have to imagine with me please 4 little girls, they all just purchased matching sunglasses (because they were 2.99 on clearance) they are talking and giggling as they go to the double doors leading to outside world, the older girls are in the lead with the younger girls mimicking their stride, the doors open, with purses on shoulder and bags in hand, and a gentle breeze blowing to keep their hair out of their faces, they exude confidence as they walk down the sidewalk to our next destination where once again they will leave their cares behind because after all there are other clothes that need to be tried on!!!

Thursday was Boy's day, now let me give you a little background on my boys, they are only jeans and T-shirt kind of boys, but the jeans have to fit just so and the shirts have to hang just right and the coloring of both cannot be to bold nor the pattern to odd and forget about button up or collared shirts (seriously, come on), so I usually take them and make them try on everything and then persist to ask them over and over and over again, "will you still like this tomorrow, next week, next month, how about in January", I have learned the hard, pricey way that in order to avoid fighting with them every day, I have to let them pick out what they want and only interject my opinion when cost, or just plain bad taste is involved. So this year having just been with the girls, I knew what stores had the best prices for their usual jeans and T-shirt, we were off to a good start and then a store that I had not been to in a while caught my eye, so I asked the boys if they wanted to go there, being boys they said they didn't care, I am telling you right now, in that very store a miracle occurred, had I not been there and witnessed it I would never have believed it. Although Bradley is very picky about his clothes he does like the plaid shorts (after I spent 45 min. talking him into them) and so he found a pair that he liked and a shirt to go with it and then as he was looking over some other clothes he pointed to a button up collared shirt and was like "hey mom, what do you think of this shirt" before I spoke I had to take a deep breath and stifle my sob (10 years I have been trying to get this boy to see the other side of clothes, 10 years) so playing it cool, I was like "yeah, it has a good color you could wear it this way or you could roll up the sleeves for a more fall look, you should try it on and see if you like it." and then a little while later BAM he hit me with another one, this time a long sleeved collared shirt with stripes, oh yeah I said it stripes and he was like "Mom, could I layer this with the other shirt", can you hear the angels singing, because I could, and then I saw the coolest thing ever, right before he came out of the dressing room he fixed his hair, now for some of you this may be nothing but for me I wanted to shout it from the rooftop "MY son finally cares about how he looks!!!!" I just think this may be a turning point, he may actually start brushing his teeth without constant reminders or maybe when he showers he will use soap and shampoo the first time and not have to suffer through a cold repeat shower, who knows what all this entails, the possibilities are endless (oh and just so you know I don't think I will let him read this blog, so try and keep this under wraps), so you would think this is the end of the tale but alas it is not, so we move on and he again finds some shirts that he likes and something must have rubbed off on Zacky because he to was trying things that are not in their "norm" and then not only that but when they were tying on clothes (in between bouts of take downs) they were actually telling one another if the shirt they picked looked good on them or if they needed maybe a different color or size. I know, I know, I about passed out from the shock of it all too. Well after I recovered and we finished our shopping, the boys took me to dinner, opening the doors, acting grown up, being very polite, and sitting in their seat the whole time, and not one fight, seriously how many miracles can occur in one day, I think this must have been a record. So now that the school shopping is done and another year of memories is stored, I will bid you farewell with the promise of pictures to come and another story yet to share about Bradley asking me about dating........................