UM...EXCUSE ME, BUT COULD YOU REPEAT THAT?

So yesterday evening Blake says "Mom tomorrow after school could we go to the mall to shop for new spring clothes?"
Wait, what?
BLAKE SAID THAT. Not my 13-year-old fashion expert daughter, but my 15 1/12 year old fashion challenged son. My mind was saying "It's a trick....do not fall for it..."
But he said he wanted some new shorts and t-shirts, and it IS about that time of year...
Let me just say that Blake has not waited for spring to be wearing shorts again. When I picked him up from school last month he came out of the building in shorts. In January. In Illinois. It was about 25 degrees. See, the boys not only wear shorts under their sweat pants; they wear shorts under their jeans. Then when they get hot in school, they can slip their jeans off in the restroom, or just not put the jeans back on after P.E. class. It is a little disconcerting for us moms who are certain we saw them leave the house in jeans that morning. This shorts-all-year phenomenon has been going on for a couple of years. Blake's grandparents think it is terrible that I allow him to wear shorts in the winter months. I finally started to reply to their outrage with "He's 13 (or 14 or 15) he knows when he's cold. And besides, he only goes from the car to the bus to the school and back again."
So we will head out today to shop. Kayla has her eye on some cool tennis shoes (blue plaid) that she will probably get.
I am tempted to buy Blake 7 pair of black or denim shorts. That way he will have a pretty good chance of matching. Blake has no desire to match his clothes. It is sometimes painful to the eyes.
I guess I have been somewhat of a clothing snob for Blake. I buy two brands - Nike and "And One." Not because I will only buy top of the line, but because they wash up beautifully. I mean really. If he did not outgrow them, these brands would last forever. That is important for boy clothes. And I have always bought them in sets - navy shorts with a navy shirt, burgundy set...whatever. Blake has never felt the need to keep the sets together, however, much to my and Kayla's horror. Our favorite pairing of his is the burgundy shorts with the orange shirt. OUCH! My only comfort in this fashion travesty is that most of the boys look this way. Except Cubby. Cubby dresses really neat.

Kayla, of course, is the opposite of Blake when it comes to fashion. She somehow manages to look cute in plain jeans and a t-shirt. Like today. She went to school in jeans and a black t-shirt. But the silver belt was a perfect touch. And I think she had a red ribbon in her hair. You cannot go wrong with red accessories when wearing black. I tried to impart important wisdom like that to my children at a very young age. I do not seek out the name brands for Kayla, but I will admit to buying her MORE clothes. But she uses them (as I remind Paul every time we trudge in from the mall with 2 or 3 (or 6) sacks. She has different outfits for everything. She has babysitting outifts, going-to-the-movie outifts, eating-out-with-Mom-and-Dad outfits (which luckily does not include dark glasses and a trench coat...yet) hanging-out-at-the-mall outfits. And sometimes she will wear several of these in a day. But I suppose if I'd had that many clothes when I was 13, I would have "utilized" them to the best of my ability also.

Also, regarding shopping... I just recently told Paul that the kids are old enough to be doing much of their own. Kayla especially spends enough time at the mall, that I could just give her the money and tell her to purchase the shirts we've agreed upon, when she's there with her friends anyway. I think she'd go for that. Blake? Not so much. He might consider it just another chore. Unless I was sending him into the Video game store.