Older v. Younger, Boys v. Girls---And the Very Bad Outfit Day

It's rainy and cold today. Kid 1 left in a funk due to a "Sartorial Misfunction". I had put away the winter clothes including all black long-sleeved tops and she desperately "needed" one this morning. I suggested she put on a burgundy crew neck instead, which she did. Whoops. Wrong suggestion. Unfortunately, this looked worse than the Eileen Fisher cardigan (which I've had since before she was born) she'd had on over the original outfit.  But now it was too late to change back. What she required was a scoop-neck top. "Why did you put away all of my sweaters and long-sleeved shirts??" I reminded her that last week we had temperatures in the 80s but she claimed I was mistaken. I guess I was guilty of "misremembering". I told her I'd find the right top and bring it up to school. I went down to the basement and unearthed it and texted word of my triumph. In return, I got back a text that read "It's okay. Don't bother. I don't need it." Feeling incredibly virtuous, I texted back "Are you sure? I don't mind running it up to school." I'm almost positive she'll continue to demur. My daughter was born level-headed.

Immediately, after I dropped off  Kid 1 this morning, I popped across the street to see the world's cutest 22 month old. Adorable Baby No. 4 greeted me with a huge smile and a tiny hug. He was totally unconcerned with his outfit. For the record, he was wearing tiny cargo shorts with a coral colored Vineyard Vines polo shirt. Never mind that. AB#4 was busily perusing a huge Richard Scarry book that features worms driving "Apple" cars. I got down on the floor with him and we practiced pronouncing words including "pickle", "watermelon" and "squash". It was definitely therapeutic but after a half hour my lower back started muttering so I got to my feet and came home. And hunted down the "right" black top. Which now she doesn't need..

I got to thinking about a momversation I had yesterday with a friend,  about the block party her neighborhood had this past weekend. The neighbors are all young with adorable young kids. My friend is my age and fortunately there is one other mom with "old kids" like ours. She said "we felt like such dinosaurs with our huge, ugly kids". I know the feeling. Although, at least our huge, big kids can see reason. No tantrums over juice boxes or unwanted naps. Just regrets and self-recriminations some days.

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