The Legend of the Purple Pants

If you'll notice on my handy dandy ticker at the bottom of the right column, you'll see we're about to head into the last month of summer. And of course, every parent knows that it means schlepping out to the clothing stores to buy school clothes for our children.

Thankfully, my kids are not demanding to shop at Hollister, Aeropostle and Abercrombie at this young age. I will say, though that Elisan is getting a little more picky in her clothing selections and definitely has a strong opinion about certain items. And why wouldn't she... she's nearly nine and about to enter fourth grade.

I can totally relate.

Have I ever told you the story "The Legend of the Purple Pants"? I'll set the scene.

I was in fifth grade. It was Christmastime and one of my gifts from my parents was a pair of light purple pants and a matching polo-styled collared striped shirt. I loathed those pants. They were straight legged slacks and it was just about the time when skinny jeans were hitting the fashion circuits. If you didn't have the skinny jeans, you opted to "tight roll" your pants at the ankle to emulate the tight jean effect. But seriously? You could NEVER tight roll slacks. It was the epitome of a fashion faux pas. Much worse than simply wearing the straight legged pants that practically covered my entire shoe!

So, what did I do? I didn't wear them. I decided that I would not wear the awful pants to school and pretend they didn't exist. I think I went so far as to hide them in the back of my closet. But, my plan was foiled as my mom found the purple pants and after a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth she decided that because I put up such a fuss about those purple pants (that she paid a lot of money for apparently) I was now going to have to wear them at least once a week. And let me just say, not a week went by that I did not wear those doggone pants.

Say what you will about this unfortunate event... it left me scarred. I remember making a solemn vow that I would never inflict that kind of torture... yes, torture... on my own children. Let's see if I can hold up my end of the bargain.

So, here I am... 27 years later, dealing with my own child and the purchasing of school clothes. Here's hoping the wailing and gnashing of teeth will be minimal (from me) and that it will be an overall pleasant experience.

Sidenote: I have purchased a few denim items for them so far. I skipped on over to Goodwill and Salvation Army and found some really cute denim skirts, shorts and jeans in excellent condition. Jeans are always a good find at thrift stores because there is always a great selection to dig through.