Growth Spurt!

Holy Cow! The kids are on a growing spurt! The middle child just came down the stairs, his pants looking more like knickers, than pants. The oldest looks like he is waiting for the flood and the little one's long sleeve shirts are now elbow-length, exposing her entire wrist, not to mention her pants, which are showing her socks, in their entirety...

Let's see...it's mid-February...four more months of school.  Can we hang on without having to buy more school uniforms?  But it's not just their clothes...their lunchboxes stink like an old highschool lunchroom, I've already replaced two kids' backpacks and the third one looks like it was run over by a bus.  Their folders are ratty, their shoelaces look like mice have been chewing on them, I can only find one sock per pair and end up throwing mismatched socks in their drawers. They have grown out of their underwear...but I can't pass the oldest's underwear down because the middle son says that is "gross". (I do it anyway)

I sent the youngest up for a change into the cute jumper I found for her. It's a size 6, she is 6 years old...perfect, right? She looked so cute, white shirt, navy jumper, navy leggings. "OK," I tell her, "Let's make sure it's long enough." She stands up tall, with her arms to her sides. The rule is that skirts and jumpers have to be longer than where her fingertips reach. Uh-oh...it's barely long enough..."Shrug your shoulders, Honey," I suggest. She complies...PERFECT! Now just walk around like that all day...

I don't know what I am so worried about...the kids don't care. The oldest spent a whole day at school with his shirt inside-out. It's a long sleeved polo shirt. Really? You didn't notice that the buttons are on the inside? I don't know which is worse...that he went all day like that or the fact that I didn't even notice when I sent him off to school. I really need to pay better attention...or invest in a good pair of glasses!

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...My mom told me the story of when I was in second grade...off to school I went. She looks out the window to wave goodbye and sees that my pants are in the extreme highwater zone. She was mortified and felt so bad. She shouldn't have...I knew my pants were too short. I didn't care. I loved those pants. There was a top that matched...purple polyester, puffed sleeves with three heart shaped buttons and a white bib sewn in. (sounds lovely, right?)  The pants were the same fabric and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Maybe I really only loved it because it came from my cousin Carol...I loved all hand-me downs and I was going to wear that outfit until I burst it at the seams! (which I think I did...)

I guess as long as no one points it out to the kids, they will be fine. And let's be honest...the boys wouldn't care if their pants were ripped, dirty, highwaters, too tight and backwards. Although the backwards thing might present a problem in the bathroom... The girl on the other hand...she'll be fine until someone points it out to her..and even then she will think it's OK...until they say they don't like it. Then it will be DRAMA and I will have to break down and make a purchase. Until then, I will cross my fingers and pray no one says a word.  After all, warm weather is on the way and I will break out the short sleeve polo shirts, shorts and skirts. What do you want to bet those won't fit either...?