Since getting rid of his bowling shirts and winnowing down his Hawaiian collection, Wade is mostly exempt from the G.K. I, however, have been practicing in full force since third grade. The G.K.'s what drew me to choose pink glasses although my favorite color, most of my clothing, even my bedroom, were bright red.
As an adult, I've worked hard to move past the G.K., but the natural Anne will always be drawn toward the geeky. The G.K.'s why I can be comfortable for hours every morning, bleary-eyed in my glasses, braless, puttering around my kitchen in my robe. The G.K.'s why I never learned to accessorize; most days it's all I can do to make sure the basics are acceptable. The G.K.'s why, one morning this winter, I was fully prepared to drop Scotty off at school in my blue checked pajamas, pink coat, and brown boots. Tenderly, carefully, Wade asked, "Won't you have to get out of the car to let Scotty out?"
Scotty started manifesting the G.K. at an early age. As soon as he could talk, he daily demanded his "green shirt" and "red socks." Together. Currently, Scotty has a penchant for the monochromatic (I think it's because he's trying to match), and often comes out of his bedroom in his camo shirt and army-green pants, brown shirt and brown pants, etc. But that colors are always off just enough to look, you got it, geeky.
T seemed to have escaped the G.K. until a few months ago, when Wade cut his signature mop because we were curious about what his face looked like. Now he's always yelling at us because he has "bedhead!" and overcompensating with gel and vigorous brushing. Also, since I moved him up a size in his beloved "underwears" (undershirts), T's taken to tucking (also vigorously) and insisting on his top button.
(After posing for this shot he donned orange flip-flops.)John's been displaying the early warning signs.
I've become fond of quoting John Keats (by way of Mary Poppins): "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." I'm pretty sure when I look back on these days with my monkeys I'll say the same is true of "a thing that's geeky."
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You and your kids always put me to shame. I wouldn't consider you anywhere near the spectrum of geek!
ReplyDeleteI am laughing so hard I am crying. The first picture of Scotty got me laughing, and then I just could not stop. I loved the line about T - "we were curious what his face looked like!!" Thanks for the great laughs.
ReplyDeleteanne, i love love love it. let it live on, i say. i've actually known people who said that dressing the way you let your boys dress, and i the way i let my kids dress, is misbehaving and the child should be punished. can you believe that?? i've heard two different mothers utter that. punished!
ReplyDeletemy kids go out in all sorts of hideous getups and garbs and it just brings laughter to my day.
*and i've also noticed my children are far more interesting than children who have been "punished" for mismatching at two.
First of all, i don't believe a word of this, you are one of the most stylish people i know! you always look put together and classy. yes, i said it, classy.
ReplyDeleteI let my kids dress themselves every day of the week with the exception of sundays. (where they still get a say, but i give them their choices). This results in a lot of, how would you say it, "interesting" ensembles. At the end of gracie's preschool year, they had a spirit week, and one of the days was "Let your child dress themselves" day. I somehow missed that we weren't supposed to let them do that every other day of the school year as well. oops. :)
At least they are boys and don't care when your geeky too. Madelyne sometimes very sweetly asks me, "Mom is that what you are wearing all day today?" And my reply is usually something like "Yes sweatheart, mommy is scrubbing toilets so this is as good as it gets."
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