Henry has been very picky about what he wears for a long time, now. I have learned only to buy him things that are pre-approved (by him!), or else it's a waste of money. Last January I took him to Old Navy and in about 5 minutes he whipped through the store like Tim Gunn, saying "this; this; this; not this," and by golly he stuck to it. It wasn't just a whim; he had a strong aesthetic reaction to what he liked and didn't like and he loved and wore the things he picked out (two pairs of gray fleece pants; one black; blue sweatshirt with yellow piping). It's helped that we've gotten so many hand-me-downs, because I can just hold things up from the bag and if he says yes, we keep it, and if not, we hand it on down the line. But now he's getting to the point where boys wear out their clothes, and pickings are slim. It's getting to be long-pants weather, and all his long pants from last spring seem to end 3 or 4 inches above the floor. So, he needs new clothes. I took him to JC Penney's a week ago and it was a disaster-- he didn't want to focus, wasn't interested in anything except pajamas and sweatpants, and I was annoyed. We gave up and went home. Monday his Grandma Cookie sent him some things from LL Bean that were not up to his standard-- he took one look at the carpenter jeans and said "I am never wearing those!"-- and I said we could return them and choose something else. He looked at me warily (he assumed I had picked the things out) and said, "are you okay with that?" We consulted the catalog on the web and agreed on some dark olive drawstring cargo pants and a red and gray hoodie. And today, a triumphant trip to Target, where we filled out his fall wardrobe. No more ragamuffin! (This photo does not include the arctic camo pants that he fell in love with in the Land's End catalog. Not green camo-- it must be arctic.)
This morning, on the way to school, he said, "Mom, do you know what I love? I love gray. And purple, and orange, and that's it." I pointed out that he was wearing red shorts and red shoes. "Well, I like them to wear, but I don't like them as colors. As colors, I just like gray, orange, and purple. And light blue."
Michael has been working on a painting of peaches. He had it propped on the sideboard in the dining room so he could look at it all week and decide what needed to be done to finish it. Henry was contemplating it during dinner, and said, "Daddy, I can't see the red on the peaches enough. It needs to be redder, and darker." Michael thought about it for a while, and then agreed that was good advice.
4 comments:
He sounds like Ian- very picky about what he wears and likes, and very definite in his opinions!
Do you think that he likes certain clothes because of how they feel- not just how they look? I was struck by you saying he was only interested in sweatpants and pjs- that sounds like a lot of kids I've had in my preschool classes...sensory stuff is still so present at this age and they are still learning how to regulate and process their sensory input- so stuff like clothes can really drive some kids wild! I had one little girl who was hilarious- she wore the same sundress ALL YEAR long, every day, sun or snow. We negotiated snowpants and a coat to wear outside in the cold weather, but inside it was the same ragged sundress that got progressively smaller and more worn throughout the year. By the next year she was finally ready to move on to another outfit!
You can tell Henry that his cousins have definite color preferences too- Ian refuses to wear, own, or look at anything brown! And I love all bright colors, but will never wear yellow. I like his new outfits. They'll look great with his orange Crocs ;)
Yes, I think it is a lot about comfort, about soft things and about garments that he can put on and off himself easily (esp. when using the bathroom). But he TALKs about how they look, not how they feel, which is interesting. I try to honor his preferences because they are so passionate!
His great Uncle Tim wears grey, light blue, navy blue and tan in the shirt and pants department--exciting! I like the clothes Henry picked out also. Fun to wear, great to look at and those long sleeves will be warm. Love, Auntie Grace
Miles has a few of the same shirts. Target and Old Navy are great places to buy clothes that you know are going to get used and abused.
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