My Kingdom for Cool Under Ware

Recall if you will, a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon from years past.

Calvin is searching desperately through his drawers.

"Mom, I can't find my happy hippo under ware!"

"Calvin, they are in the laundry. Wear some of the plain ones."

Calvin, clutching his forehead in frustration, storms off muttering, "I hate it when I can't gird my loins in funny animals."

While this rendition is likely not exact, I guarantee it is pretty darn close to the actual cartoon. I cannot remember the specific name of the character he was searching for, but you get the idea. HOW do I remember such a thing? While most older teens/young adults were busy sneaking out and trying to secure illegal alcohol, I was holed up in my room, devouring Calvin and Hobbes anthologies, drinking tea and doing homework. Yes, we have already established in
the previous post that I am a nerd so there is really no reason to revisit that topic.

We take this stroll down memory lane because our dear little Nathan lived the life of poor neglected Calvin this evening. Upon discovering that a too long delayed trip to the potty resulted in sightly wet undies and that he had no Spider Man undies available, he fell tragically to the floor, sobbing hysterically while clutching my hand, begging me to take some Spider Man undies from Isaac's drawer because, "I'm not wearing anything cool mommy!"

Poor baby. Please someone, for the love of God, contact social services before it is too late.

We do feel that we have gotten to the bottom of some of the defiant behavior we have observed in our first 2 born. They have both this evening expressed a desire for alone time with mommy and daddy. Now if that does not tug at the old heart strings I don't know what will. After Anna was asleep we granted them an extra hour of awake time and split them up for private playtime and stories.

I read a few stories to Nathan and then we discussed the possibility of a weekend trip to acquire a few "cool" clothing items that will be all his very own. In Nathan's defense and lest you think that we usually solve behavior problems with bribery, Nathan really does live in the most awful hand-me-down hell. Given that he holds little brother status in the family, many of his clothes previously belonged to Isaac. Isaac is a bit of a clothes horse. If he really likes something, he wears it until it disintegrates in a brisk evening breeze and then comes inside to start on the next item. Typically the items that he wears to disintegration are the clothes that both boys deem "cool." You can see the problem. Nathan rarely gets handed down any cool clothes, they just do not last that long.

To that end, this weekend Nathan and I will hit the pavement in search of "cool" undies, jammies and shirts. He specified several must have items, the most distressing of which is a superman shirt, "just like the one Uncle James has. It has to be a regular shirt, not a jammy shirt." Gonna need a little help with this one folks. The only superman tops I recall seeing were most decidedly PJs. After shopping we will absolutely need ice cream. I think he will have fun. Isaac is going to stay home and play castle set with daddy while Anna takes her nap. Castle set with daddy is Isaac's utopia.

Both boys were all smiles as they went to bed this evening. Amazing what 20 minutes of individual attention, with the promise of more, will do. Jesse and I talked further about this and we will make more of an effort to give them as much individual attention as possible. The S family lives are crazy busy, there is a reason why we have a clock in our dining room with "Grand Central Station" emblazoned on it. I cannot imagine a more accurate piece of decor for our home.

Behavior mystery solved? Stay tuned!

In other news, Esther has admitted that she logged onto the blog from a bunch of different computers in her school and voted for Chipotle from each one. A more appalling misuse of public property I cannot fathom and I will be forced to render a complaint with the proper authorities.

Everyone be sure to sign this petition in support of Paris Hilton. A crying shame that such a delightful and upstanding young lady should be put in jail. Oh pardon me, my eyes just rolled so far back in my head that one of them actually fell out. Must chase it across the room before the cats get to it.