My oldest son Anthoony will be entering school next month for the first time ever. Anthony is 14 – nearly 15 – and he’s been homeschooled for his entire life. So his back-to-school wardrobe has always been nonexistant. Sure, at the beginning of summer, I buy him shorts and t-shirts. On his birthday and other holidays, I’ll buy him some new jeans and his favorite band t-shirts, or game t-shirts – heck, he will even wear t-shirts that I get from conferences. He’s not picky. He’s also got NO sense of style. The idea of colors clashing is just insane to him. What does it matter, as long as his body’s covered? Well, that’s his opinion, anyway. Me – his mom – the one who other moms will look at and think to themselves "how did she let him out of the house looking like THAT?" – yeah, I’m sometimes embarassed when he wears black with blue – or two different socks ("they’re all white, what difference does it make?", he replies). I just shake my head and remind myself to pick my battles. I’ve been reminding myself of that since he was a toddler!
Now that he is going to be the owner of his very own back to school clothing essentials, I’m silently hoping that his sense of style starts to develop. I know his standbys of jeans and the nearest available t-shirt will serve him well for portraying the musician image that he hopes to cultivate. But I also hope to see him in polos and khakis, perhaps some other kind of footwear without laces, if I’m REALLY lucky. I don’t want him to fall victim to whatever the latest "trends" are just because of peer pressure, but I also remember feeling left out when everyone was getting designer jeans (cut me some slack, here – it was the early 80′s!), and I will always remember that feeling of like I was the ONLY one who didn’t have the newest fashions.
I’m sincerely hoping that things are different for boys than they are for girls, but on the off chance that they’re not, I’ll be able to head to JC Penney and grab whatever it is that "EVERYONE" else is wearing that he simply must have. JC Penney is where my husband gets all his clothes to help him look professional and comfy, so I know I can trust them for my son’s "look" too.
I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and jcpenney blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.
