School Clothes

I hear from friends that their 12-year-old sons don't really care what clothes they wear, much less their socks.

Well, I've got a 12-year-old that not only cares, he passionately cares about his clothes and yes, his socks.

And, he doesn't do mix and match -- he has outfits. So if a certain navy blue shirt goes with navy plaid shorts, don't expect the shirt to go with a pair of khaki shorts. Oh, no, it doesn't go together.

Today marks the beginning of the wearing of school clothes. We put together a calendar each week so we have everything we need ironed following the rule of at least two collared shirts worn a week. He can only wear basketball shorts and a t-shirt once a nine weeks. Usually, he burns through that in the first or second week and then has to wait it out until the next nine weeks.

He requested Hollister shirts this year. Collared and t-shirt styles -- we bought three collared shirts and two t-shirts -- all on sale. He also received new shorts from Kohls. Kohls carries the style he likes -- baggy, belted, long shorts. He's going the plaid route in shorts this year for the most part.

We also purchased undershirts because he needed new ones, but what does he wear most days? Sleeveless, UnderArmour shirts are the undershirt of choice for Christopher. That would work really well if he had more than two. I'm thinking the white Hanes undershirts will become a part of the circulation.

I'm fortunate Christopher cares about his appearance, but some mornings I think, who cares if the undershirt neck looks slightly stretched out under the collar of his t-shirt or the socks are long or short or if the black socks he has are too faded to go with the black slip-on Nike shoes!?

Yeah, socks. They are a big deal 'round here. Last year, it was two pair of long black Nike socks (hit around the calf) that he would layer. The bottom layer was scrunched down a bit and the top layer was folded down. For his birthday this year, he added six more pair to the mix. He has a drawer full of long black Nike socks.

He also has short black and short white Nike socks. These go unworn. I think he may wear them to mow the lawn.

To throw a wrench into the whole sock outfitting, he has to wear white socks for football. I think this is easily accomplished because he has a drawer full of white long socks. Oh, wait, they are Addidas and his cleats are Nike. Nope, can't wear Addidas socks with Nike shoes. I promise you these are his actual words!

He has one pair of long white Nike socks. He has practice tomorrow. He's wearing the socks right now because he's playing football outside wearing the Nike cleats and he has to match.

Tomorrow, we're buying more long white Nike socks. I am not doing laundry every night with the load consisting of one pair of long white Nike socks. Or Under Armour T-shirts.