Cuz Every Girl Is Crazy 'Bout A Sharp Dressed Man!

It all started when Nick was about two. He was so independent. I would let him dress himself. It was VERY helpful to me! I was so proud of him. I thought I had him trained, but boy was I wrong!! He would bring the outfit he picked into me and say, "Does this match?" And I would say, "No, pick another pair of pants, etc." Well, I remember an incident one morning before I went to work. Nick and Todd were in his room, and Nick had got himself dressed. He was wearing a purple shirt and red pants. I told him it didn't match and to get different pants. A meltdown ensued...(me or Nick???) Todd was saying, "What does it matter?" And I specifically remember saying (out loud I might add), "It looks stupid because it doesn't match." Meanwhile, my kid is crying and carrying on. I leave for work. I am actually mad I tell you. Steaming mad...
And then it hits me....really Christine? You are mad because your 2 year old wants to wear red pants and a purple shirt....That IS stupid. So, I have to apologize to my 2 year old (I'm sure it won't be the last time), for being mad and not saying a nice thing (we don't say stupid in our house).
So from that moment on I decided, "Choose your battles wisely." And that is not one that I choose to fight. And so was born, my little eccentric Nicholas Edward Allen.
Let me tell you about my little man. He has a personality all his own. I say quite often to my mother, "You never know what Nick is gonna do." And this is so true, and I love him for it!

Nicholas to me, is one in a million. When he gets up in the morning, he knows EXACTLY what he wants to wear. He will say, "Mom, where is my BUG shirt," or something to that liking. If I get the privilege of helping him get dressed, he will sit on the bed while I flip through the shirts, until he decides which one he wants to wear. Then he will have decide exactly what pants he wants to wear, what shoes, what socks, and so the list goes. He has a drawer full of colorful socks of various characters (I just love socks, and thank you target for having kids character socks for $1), and he will search for exactly the right pair to go with his outfit.

Shoes is a whole other story. You never know what he will be in the mood for. My husband gave me a hard time when he was 2 because I bought him a $10 pair of brown horsey rain boots at Orscheln's. He said, "those are a waste of money." Boy did he eat his words. When Nick started liking those, he wore those boots with EVERYTHING, and nearly wore off the heel!!! We have worn cowboy boots with both sweats and shorts. The sky is the limit!
Also somewhere between 2-3 years old comes a very determined little boy. He latched on to a few articles of clothing SO MUCH that I found myself washing them A LOT! First we had our "hun-un sweat pants." This was when he was learning to talk and for some reason, we got that name, which we are not still sure what he meant, but if he said "hun-un sweat pants," we knew exactly what pair he was referring to.
To us, there was nothing special about them, just a normal nylon slick pair of royal blue pants with black/white stripes on the side. But to that kid, it was his favorite pair. So much so, I actually searched ebay for another pair exactly like those (to no avail). With the "hun-un sweat pants," came the "bear hirt (aka bear shirt)." This was a shirt we got him from a trip to Colorado that had a grizzly bear on it. Again, I searched high and low for an extra "bear hirt," but again no luck. And lastly, we had our Buzz Lightyear jammies. Now these are original jammies from the original Toy Story, worn by my nephew Colton. These jammies were 10 years old! But they were so cool, they had wings!! Searched again for an extra pair after a meltdown one night because I had to wash them, and again came up empty handed. Hence this Mama did a lot of laundry in those days. I would literally have to bargain with him, wash them and give them right back! Silly, huh??? Yes, but have you ever seen a kid meltdown???

So anyways, back to the story. I don't want you to think I am some kind of hippy or crazy Mom who never battles over this. I do. I just choose when it's time to battle, and I have learned how to use the best weapons. Nick is a kid who absolutely LOVES clothes. He is my kid who when I say we are going to Target, he says, "Can I get a new shirt there?" He doesn't ask for toys hardly ever, but if you get him a new shirt, you will be his friend for life. And you can tell if he likes it, because he will put it on RIGHT away. Seriously, I have seen him strip right in the store. Now he even knows he can put it on before we pay if he gives me the tags. So if I want him to wear a special shirt for say Christmas eve church or something, I promise to get him a new outfit (who doesn't love new outfits for special occasions??). But, I have also learned to do this VERY close the event, otherwise, he will wear it right away, and when the big day comes, he won't want to wear it.
Yes, my Nicholas is quite the character. People tell me they are always looking to see what he will be wearing, because "you just don't know about Nicholas!" So what was once a source of frustration, is now a sense of pride. Instead of crushing that free spirit to fit in the box of what we find acceptable, I have let him flourish. And this is just what Nicholas does and he does it well. He doesn't care if he wears jammies to Dillons, if he has cowboy boots with shorts, if his colors match (because to him they ALL match). All he cares about is that he gets to choose (and hopefully it's clean :)

So I say to you little man, keep marching. Keep on marching to the beat of your own drum and don't let the world tell you NO! Because in the end....Every Girl Is Crazy 'Bout A Sharp Dressed Man!
Romans 12:2 MSG "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."