We took Evan shopping today because he needs clothes for school. Shopping with Evan is always tremendously frustrating. And saying that doesn't even have anything to do with all the time I spend in dressing rooms with him sounding like my mom 30-some years ago saying things like "How's it fit in the crotch?"

For one thing, Evan is very hard to fit. He is a pretty good sized kid, meaning he is wearing clothes that are probably more likely to be worn by a young teen. The problem with that is that his body shape is still more like that of a pre-teen. It is just really difficult to find things that fit him. And, more often than not, he ends up with clothes that are baggy on him in the places they shouldn't be baggy and tight in the places they shouldn't be tight, creating a rather sloppy look. Maybe kids today like that look but that leads to the next problem with finding clothes for Evan ...

He really doesn't care what he looks like ... except he doesn't want to look dressy (anything with a collar is "church clothes") ... and he doesn't want to wear anything that represents something he isn't. For example, he won't wear a shirt which features a sport that he doesn't play. So, we end up looking for rather plain (but not entirely plain) clothes without collars or any offending insignias ... plus they have to fit him ...

Yes, shopping with him is a problem. And like I said, he just doesn't care. He would go naked all the time if he could, I am pretty sure (something which concerns me greatly).

At one point today I was threatening him with a pink Winnie The Pooh snowsuit if he didn't start helping out in finding some clothes he can wear.

I didn't have many clothes when I was his age. My family struggled financially and usually I would have two pairs of jeans and maybe three shirts that had to last me through the school year. Thinking back on that, though, reminds me of one of the more embarrassing things in my life.

Remember the Seinfeld show with the "puffy shirt"? I lived that show long before Seinfeld ever thought of it.

In second grade, I had not one, but two "puffy shirts" except I called them my "pirate shirts". One had a brown and white print and the other was more sort of cranberry and white, fading to pink and white by the end of the school year.

Like all of my clothes at the time, they were from Sears. (I still have an aversion to Sears as a result.) I do not know what Sears thought they were doing by offering these shirts but they were long sleeved shirts and the sleeves were very puffy --"blousey" if you will. I suspect mom got them off of the clearance rack. Kids made fun of me for wearing those shirts. I knew that I had no choice but to wear them, though, so I tried my best to pass them off as being the height of stylishness. But who was I kidding? Calling them my "pirate shirts" made no difference. They were incredibly dorky.

So, I try to give Evan leeway in choosing his clothes ... and finding things that he is comfortable wearing despite the problems with finding things that fit. But, just the same, if the next shopping trip goes like today's? That pink Winnie the Pooh snowsuit really may be in his future.