Tuesday, September 1, 2009

"Dude" Used to Be My Baby!



Click to enlarge

For those of you who know me well, you're probably aware that I am a terrible procrastinator. If you don't know me that well, then I meant to tell you about that flaw but I just didn't get around to it yet. Well, school starts next week and I could finally wait no longer. Today was my annual version of Dante's Inferno: "Back to School" shopping. While I didn't have to toil through all nine circles of suffering, I did have to battle other putter-offers in several small hells: Old Navy, Marshalls, Payless and Target.

I have two sons.
Even though both are as laid back as recliners, they are entirely different when it comes to clothes and shopping. 12-year-old Evan has never been a "fashion plate." School shopping for him has always been a breeze. He never wants to go; just gives me simple rules to follow. Shirts: No buttons, no stripes, no flowers. Pants: No cords. That's it; he's done. Piece of cake.

Ben, however, came out of the womb with a sense of style. Rejected Luvs diapers as "boring" in favor of the more happenin' Huggies. Potty trained in just a week so he could start wearing those super-chic "Bob the Builder" briefs. Yes, Ben is a fashionista. He's known throughout Lansdale for his collection of Hawaiian shirts. That is NOT an exaggeration. The little mellow-man is famous for the Hawaiians. He was the only kindergartener with an ironing pile.

Today's journey into the bowels of consumer hell started out as expected. Evan: "Why do I have to try these on, they're fine!"..."Can I wait in the car?"..."Where's my iPod? Remember, no buttons!" I thought Ben would want to hit the thrift store for a bevy of "new" vintage Hawaiian shirts. But it turns out that over the summer Ben decided to take his "look" in a new direction. Blue-eyed blond Ben is now apparently a surfer dude, with a just a hit of rock star. Check out the dude's collage above. He picked out those all on his own. One of 'em doesn't even fit! But he HAD to have the one with the palms. "It's so Cali!" He's going to be the only surfer-dude in Mrs. Persons' 1st grade class in suburban, landlocked Pennsylvania. Go ahead mothers, blame me. Too much LKK in the car all summer. I just thank God that at least I'm not into Adam Lambert. Ben could have ended up being the only 1st grader with eyeliner.


Note: Yes, I know. "What about Puerto Rico?" Workin' on it. Workin' on it!



2 comments:

John Hathaway said...

Ben's just getting his Vieques look dialed in! :-)

Suzanne said...

You know it John! They'd both love Vieques! They've got their mom's laid back island spirit. Maybe next time. No, I want to go alone again! The time after next!