PJ Day

It seems Brainy Boy has reached a new stop on his way to growing up--the one where kids begin worrying about what other people think of them. This is an unusual characteristic for Brainy Boy as thus far, his world has revolved around himself, and he doesn't take much notice of others unless they are invading his space. He doesn't give a bit of care to how his hair looks, what he is wearing, if his face is dirty, if he goes 5 days without a bath and all the other things that are typical of a pre-adolescent.

In this awkward in-between stage, he still tends to be a kid who likes silliness, goofing off and making others laugh. Today, however, it became clear that there are categories of silliness: The acceptable and the unacceptable. The acceptable sort of silly behaviors would include running around our front yard with his light sword yelling at his invisible men to 'attack!'; arranging complicated army games at recess with his buddies; dressing up his favorite beany bear in GI Joe clothes; making weird faces to the camera just in time for us to snap a picture; watching the goofiest of the goofy cartoons and such. The unacceptable category includes pretending there is a Santa Claus; pretending there is an Easter Bunny; pretending there is a Tooth Fairy; dressing up at Halloween; and apparently, participating in Pajama Day at school.

I didn't realize there was going to be a problem because several times this week, Brainy Boy has commented that we have to remember that Wednesday is Pajama Day at school. Silly me assumed this meant he was looking forward to pulling out a pair of rarely-used pajamas and joining the other kids at school in bedtime clothes. I actually forgot about it this morning and set out a pair of shorts with matching shirt for him to wear, but he reminded me that it was Pajama Day. So I opened the drawer, peered inside, and suggested that he wear one of his dad's oversized T-shirts (his normal bedtime uniform) with a pair of shorts. "No, we're not allowed to wear gowns" was the reply. It did no good to explain that a nightgown was the dress-type thing that his sister wears to bed. I proceeded to choose a pair of camouflaged lounge pants with coordinating black shirt, eliciting a vehement protest that they 'looked stupid.' He dove in and pulled out flannel pajama bottoms that used to fit, but are now basically capri-length. I told him that if he thought the camo set looked stupid, he would be very surprised to hear what the kids would have to say about the 4 sizes-too-short flannels that he was choosing.

What ensued for the next 15 minutes was gut-wrenching indecision (a quality that I don't tolerate well). Would he risk humiliation and wear PJs or would he rather stick out like a sore thumb and wear street clothes? (his words, not mine). He put the PJs on. He took the PJs off. He started to put the street clothes on, and I warned that if the street clothes were put on, they were staying on, and that PJ Day was meant to be fun, not upsetting and that he needed to relax--not take life so seriously. This met with a serious scowl and he put the PJs back on.

I came up with the brilliant idea to tuck the street clothes into his backpack in case he regretted wearing the PJs to school. As soon as we got in the van to leave, he asked 'Can I just change into my regular clothes right here in the van'? I didn't let him, but told him to assess the crowd at school before he made his decision. Luckily, as soon as we pulled up to the door, his best bud, The Mammoth(the 10-year-old who is the size of a full-grown man) showed up at our van door with men's size large Batman PJs with a big smile on his face. "Mammoth, tell Brainy Boy how cool he looks in his camo PJs". Mammoth looked at me with raised eyebrows, a little smirk on his face. "Brainy Boy, look, Mammoth is having a great time with PJ Day. Be a good sport and go in to school with a good attitude."

I left him at the door, seemingly having forgotten about the prospect of humiliation and the question I had for the rest of the morning was, in what clothes he would return home. Six hours later, the door burst open and in came Pajama Boy. He said he went to the bathroom once to change and that he decided it was just too much of a bother. I asked if anybody else had funny pajamas and he said that Mean-Girl had PJs with really weird sheep on them, so he didn't feel so bad. I have a feeling it only gets worse from here! I should be used to it by now because Little Chic has been this way for a while, but so far, she's much more easily swayed than Brainy Boy.