I would say that, on the whole, my boys are not really fussy about what they wear, regardless of whether they or I have picked out the daily apparel. Their main requirement for clothing is that the pants don't fall down, and we have to apply the Jump Up And Down test fairly regularly to several trouserly items. If I tried to get them to dress in shirts with, say, collars, or worse, buttons, I might encounter a few more objections, but by and large, they don't care.
However. Neither of them are that keen to wear their tap-dance shirts. They know we have to wear them on performance days but for the rest of the year those shirts sit forlornly in the drawer. The boys will wear it as a uniform but not as an advertising opportunity. Luckily, not all my tap students feel that way.
On Sunday morning I selected outfits for the boys to wear at the performance, only to find that Cherub, in ignorance of the day's schedule, had already dressed himself. I explained about the show, and asked him to put on the shorts (it was hot) and his tap dance shirt. He commenced changing clothes without fuss but insisted on taking off the socks and jocks he was wearing and replacing them with different ones. When I said he didn't need to go that far, he insisted he did. Turns out he had picked out the entire outfit with a special theme and purpose and so therefore all those items had to be worn together. They were: a Lightning McQueen (from Cars) shirt, some soldier trousers, some Lightning McQueen undies and some socks with Dash (from The Incredibles). That's right. Just as my little brother always firmly believed that stripes made him go faster, now my son thinks if he wears clothes featuring speedy stuff, he will be able to beat all his mates in a running race. Go-Fast Couture.
Or, as Cherub called them, Go-Fast Undies and Go-Fast socks. I just love that more than I can say.
These pics of Cherub (still wearing his Non-Go-Fast outfit) were taken on Sunday afternoon, after the show and after a little friend's 4th birthday party where the lolly bag at the end included a pirate eye-patch, a treasure map and a mini telescope, which meant the Cherub was inspired to drag out his pirate hat and have a fine old pirate game on the front verandah. I, of course, grabbed the camera to capture the action, at which he was suddenly determined to exchange the tap-dance shirt for another. I talked him out of it on the grounds of "Laundry", but you know, really, don't you, that I'm just looking for any opportunity to fly my flag.
