I Love This Kid
July 4, 2009
Miles is channeling 1982 and his inner preppy.
Miles does not like to wear shirts. He also thinks shoes are the tools of the Devil. So you can usually find him running around outside wearing just his shorts, or most recently, his bathing suit bottoms. He likes to be ready should there be any possibility of coming into contact with water. And I have bigger battles to fight. At least I think I do, though generally my parenting philosophy is eh, whatever.
Miles has a friend who is slightly older a couple houses down from us. Alec is an only child and I think Miles loves playing there because Alec has a playroom filled with every toy imaginable. And the toys are not broken and they have all of their pieces. He also has a drum set and an electric keyboard. Things we do NOT have. I know the limits of my own sanity. I might let my child eat candy off of the floor, but I have to draw the line somewhere.
The other day Miles came home from their house and said that Alec’s mother had a bag of hand-me down clothes for him. He ran back outside and the next thing I know my daughter is draging a huge bag of clothes down the sidewalk. Miles is very excited by his “new” clothes.
We bring the bag into the house and Miles starts looking through it.
“I telled Alec’s mommy that I don’t have any clothes.”
“What? You do so have clothes.”
“Well, I telled her that I don’t have any clothes and I don’t have any shoes.”
“Why did you tell her that?”
“Because I wanted Alec’s clothes and shoes!”
I laughed and made a mental note to go over and thank them later on that evening.
I joke that I will dress Miles completely in Alec’s hand-me down clothes and shoes, which are a couple sizes too big, and send him over to their house to play. But then I decide it probably would only be funny to me. Alec’s parents will just shake their head at the family down the street who has so many children they can’t afford to clothe and shoe the last one. And that won’t see quite so funny anymore.
Turns out I didn’t have to do anything. Miles pulled clothes out of the bag the next morning and dressed himself from head to toe in Alec’s hand-me downs. Then he went to their house, opened their front door, and asked them for a juice box.
That crazy family down the street with all those kids just keeps getting crazier.
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It’s definitely a good color for him, and he looks so cute in it. What a clever boy.:)
July 4th, 2009 at 2:39 pmCould his dimple be any deeper? I love that he thinks the hand-me-downs are so cool. He must really like Alec! I am sure Alec’s mom is just glad that they aren’t cluttering up her house now.
July 4th, 2009 at 2:45 pmI truly think Miles is going to be president someday. He will go far with that go get-um style!! You go Miles!!!
July 4th, 2009 at 2:48 pmGet the boy some mini wayfarers to top of the look! Dang he’s too cute in that orange.
July 4th, 2009 at 3:02 pmHe is adorable! I love the orange color with the little kiddie tan from playing outside all day. Totally cute and 2009!
July 4th, 2009 at 3:33 pmToo funny…one of my favorites.
A few years ago I went through some sort of fashion/closet crisis and threw away everything that was old, never worn, too tight (just about everything), etc. and ended up with maybe three articles of clothing hung on my closet and a couple of things in my dresser. That very same evening my nephew’s wife came to visit and asked to borrow a pair of shorts. She was SO shocked by what she saw that she came the next day with a bag of clothes (said she had intended to clean her closet out too). Like Miles I wanted her clothes so it suit me just fine…still have them!LOL
July 4th, 2009 at 3:45 pmTalking about eating candy of the floor…
Yesterday, Erik must have left a big wad of used bubble gum on our dining room floor which I found today. Since it is always easy to tell whose bubblegum is whose (one of those important parenting skills), I called him off the computer and told him to clean it up.
He runs over to the dining room, grabs the bubble gum from the floor, sticks it in his mouth, starts chewing and runs back to the computer.
Um… ‘Erik…’
And Erik’s usual clothing choices are similar to Miles.
Karen
July 4th, 2009 at 4:05 pmThat is absolutely hysterical. Typical baby of the family…the best manipulator by far!
July 4th, 2009 at 4:46 pmMy own child has been going to one particular neighbor to ask for FOOD!!! It seems their food (usually from the drive thru) is much better than our food. Thankfully they find it funny!
July 4th, 2009 at 5:15 pmMy youngest (age 4.5, the last of five) will only where certain panties (don’t call them underwear, boys were underwear, girls where panties), one of two dresses (which are indentical except for color and hand-me-downs from her twin sisters), her old socks that are minutes from getting wholes and her not-really-crocs. Anything else is met with screaming.
July 4th, 2009 at 5:59 pmROTFL! I’m dyin’ here!
July 4th, 2009 at 6:28 pmIngenious!
July 4th, 2009 at 6:40 pmWhen I was little, I told the little old lady next door that I didn’t have any toys. And that once, I had a teddy bear and my parents made me give it away (We had tons of toys and my mom had insisted that we give half away to a local charity and I was upset about it.)
Family Services showed up at our porch the next day.
Apparently, this is still funny only to me.
July 4th, 2009 at 7:42 pmI love it when my kids find only-child friends. Their parents are never too busy to supply rides and fun activities for my poor neglected children.
July 4th, 2009 at 7:43 pmDude…that Alec kid had nice stuff. Miles is a super cutie in orange.
July 4th, 2009 at 8:06 pmOh, he is very cute! And that is a hilarious story. I hope you and the mom down the street become good friends
July 4th, 2009 at 8:28 pmI’m with Heather - the youngest one knows exactly how to manipulate everyone - neighbours, siblings, Mom… There was only three of us in my family, but my sister sure knew how to work it!
July 4th, 2009 at 8:36 pmAww, he’s so adorable! Just look at that dimple.
July 4th, 2009 at 9:23 pmAs a mom to 6- WE are that crazy family with too many kids down the street. I have two eternal summer camp kids as we call them- the youngest 2 boys are always shirtless and always shoeless.
July 4th, 2009 at 9:56 pmOh my lord, too funny.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:22 pmNext he’ll be popping over to ask for dinner, and then an ice-cream sundae…
channeling his inner Don Johnson- or maybe Matthew McCaughney (sp?)- getting ready to go above deck— tooo darn cute. I gotta go get some insulin, having a sweetness attack.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:34 pmMiles is incredibly cute in those clothes. The bare feet, the tan and the longish sunkissed hair really go with the totally groomed preppy look. Kind of like a surfer dude on his way to an important luau.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:35 pmOh my goodness! I loved this post so much that I read it aloud to my mom…and I am often too lazy to read anything aloud, so that’s saying A LOT. Happy 4th!
July 4th, 2009 at 11:23 pmChris, I do remember that hand-me-downs are one of your personal bugaboos, things you hate. But look how cute he looks!! Just toss away whichever things you have no use for!!
Chris says: I don’t hate hand-me downs. AT ALL. I hate it when people give me worn out, stained, and ripped clothes that they say are not good enough for their children to continue wearing but with “all my kids” I could probably use them. Yes, it has happened. More than once.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:39 amOh, Chris, how hilarious!
And those children of yours — wow. Not only do they have a teenage-looking mother (even my 13yo son emphatically agreed that you could’ve been your son’s girlfriend in that picture — so there!), but their dimples could not run any deeper. You have the most beautiful children, I swear.
Also, I have an almost 10yo girl whom I’d like to set up with one of your adorable sons for future marriage. What?!?!? You’re not into that whole arranged marriage thing?! I’m just trying to find a way to get a darling, dimpled grandbaby out of the deal (eventually, that is).
July 5th, 2009 at 3:35 amHe is adorable! Love that orange on him. And, he is too smart to tell Alec’s mom he doesn’t have any clothes so she’ll send some home with him. Wanna bet he also tells her he doesn’t get enough to eat when she pulls a pan of brownies out of the oven?
July 5th, 2009 at 6:54 amIs that a boy thing? My oldest tells people stuff like that too! And for the same reasons - he wants their stuff! We only have 2 kids, and my kids are spoiled rotten thanks to their various aunts and uncles who have no children of their own plus the grandparents. WTH? Our house is probably Alec’s house only with some broken toys, but we could probably easily stock our own Star Wars aisle at Toys R Us. Kids, I tell ya.
July 5th, 2009 at 7:46 amWow, I can’t get over how dark your children got after moving to Texas! Does the sun shine at all in the NE?
July 5th, 2009 at 8:46 amChris says: No it doesn’t. And I am not really even joking.
re chris says:
The sun does shine. Really it does .It is shining today. It is only 70 and last night during the fireworks we all had sweats and sweatshirts on because it went down to 58.
Gotta love it. at least it is not snowing.
Regarding miles he is toooooo cute
LOL LOL LOL
and i agree that there is a big difference in hand me downs. Our youngest loves the bags that appear at the doorstep.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:20 pmDude, it’s totally acceptable for young boys to run around in nothing but swim trunks all summer when you live in the south. I didn’t have girls so IDK what they’re supposed to wear.
What happened to his thumbnail? It looks black.
Chris says: It’s nail polish. Navy blue because he is a boy. At least that is what his girl friends said.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:58 pmahhh, much better than getting your hand slammed in the car door then.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:11 pmDid you ever talk to Alec’s mom? I would love to hear what she thought about Miles not having any clothes or shoes. That kid is a riot!
July 5th, 2009 at 11:06 pmOMG……………..Even as he gets older, I could just eat him up. He is going to be trouble! What a looker and personality to boot.
Those girls are gonna be flocking all around that one.
Sue
July 6th, 2009 at 1:10 amDid the ‘outfit’* (an un-word in my house of boys) come together or is he so good that he can match from a bag of stuff? Very 80’s looking - very cool! The color is awesome on his little tanned beach bum-looking self.
*”Boys don’t wear outfits Mom - they wear clothes … that don’t clash with each other.”
Oh!!!
July 6th, 2009 at 10:44 amHe is so stinkin adorable and he knows it! You have gotta love his guts and his quick-to-laugh-and-smile-ability. (Totally a word.)
July 6th, 2009 at 12:57 pmThat is so funny! What a little turkey! That sounds totally like what Roo would say!
July 6th, 2009 at 3:20 pmI wish I could tan as well as Miles does!
July 6th, 2009 at 3:49 pmThat is too funny! Kids do the craziest things and they sure have a skill for making parent’s look “bad.” Like screaming in the middle of a store because you won’t buy them the toy they MUST HAVE. LOL!
July 11th, 2009 at 12:46 pmKeep those great memories of Miles telling the neighbors he didn’t have clothes or shoes, it will be even funnier years from now.
July 14th, 2009 at 5:21 pmMy brother wanted a sandwich about 30 minutes before dinner one night. Mom told him, “No, dinner is almost done and you’ll be eating in a short while.” He argued that he was going to drop dead if he didn’t get a sandwich immediately. Mom stuck to her guns, no sandwich. Period. He left the kitchen and went outside, about a minute later she heard my brother yelling loudly from the middle of the street, “My mother is starving me”. Needless to say, my brother didn’t starve to death, he did, however, eat dinner standing up - if you catch my drift. We laugh about this all these years later, and never fail to offer my brother a sandwich before dinner at the family gatherings.