Another Old Man Is Made

Micah is a normal kid in so many ways, but his fine motor skills definitely set him apart from his crowd of peers. He's going into 4th grade (give me a minute while I process that shocking and somewhat disturbing truth) and yet writes like a preschooler. He just has a hard time making his hand control a writing instrument with any kind of precision. He's working on zippers, and we're all proud that he can pull the zipper up after someone else engages it. Pants zippers are already started that way, so it's just a matter of pulling it up, and yet because of location and leverage and who knows what else, it's an elusive art for him. Snapping jeans can be done with much perseverance, but buttons are most assuredly out of his realm of accomplishments. For this reason, Micah wears elastic waist bottoms.

People, finding rib waist jeans in size Anything Over Toddler is difficult. Not impossible, because I've found a growing number of stores that carry such a rare item. But the dilemma is not in actually finding them, it's in affording them. The stores that carry these pull-on jeans are high end boutique types. Being Queen Of Cheap, I absolutely refuse to pay $40 for a single pair of pants that will be outgrown in 4 months. In fact, I refuse to pay $40 for a pair of jeans for myself that will most likely be worn until styles dictate otherwise. Of course, being a middle aged mom, it's high time I start wearing outdated jeans just to embarrass the teens.

Mental note: keep those jeans that I just tossed into the Salvation Army bags. Wear them for special occasions, like when new boyfriends come to the house or we're attending a sporting event where a teen's friends will all see me.

So last year we found Crazy 8's rib waist jeans, and at $23 per pair, they are by far the cheapest we've stumbled upon yet. We were giddy with the money saved, while also a little nauseous over the fact that we were spending $23 on a pair of jeans that would be outgrown in 4 months. So no matter what, our stomachs hurt a little when we buy pants for our youngest son. But we did, because we had to. And then they went on sale and we bought more, because owning 2 pair of jeans for an entire school year isn't fun.

But I got email from Crazy 8 that they were having a super fab semi-annual sale, and immediately thought of those jeans. And the thought of saving money makes me very happy in that giddy kind of way. AND BOY HOWDY, I WAS INSTANTLY REWARDED FOR MY CURIOSITY. Those jeans were a whopping $12. Sign me up for an entire school year's worth!

Except I wasn't exactly sure what size Micah would need. I located my nearest store and made my way to that mall. (If you guessed that it was an hour's drive away, you guessed correctly!) (You'd guess that if you read with any regularity here. We live an hour from Everything That's Any Kind Of Fun. Walmart is 20 minutes away. Point proven.)

Here's the thing: I'm trying to curb spending. Staying out of stores is the best way I've found to not spend money, so I've been keeping myself at home. Or enjoying the great outdoors with the family. But I haven't been shopping. Therefore, I didn't know that our closest local mall got The Childrens Place. I love that store. And further, that store was having a super-fab sale touting 50% off clearance prices. It was screaming my name, it was. For $38, Micah got 2 pair of shorts for this summer and 2 for next summer, 2 t-shirts for next summer and 1 for this, a pair of khaki pants, and a sweater vest. Josh got a sweater, and Luke got a sweater vest (the boys have a thing for sweater vests), a sweater, and a hat. I got a hat. FOR $38. So much awesome, for so little money.

But people, the hat Luke got? I'm dying inside a bit. It's just way too fun, and he chose it all by himself, which means he's prouder of that thing than a peacock is of it's tail. He wears it on the trampoline, and to church, and to brush his teeth, and to breakfast. I think he sleeps with it on the pillow beside him.

What is it with my boys being little old men? And can they never stop, please?