Turns out Blogger on my phone has not automatically made me a better blogger. But here's a story worth saving. 

Earlier this spring we stopped at the outlet mall on the way home from Des Moines to get Daniel some new shoes. While we were there we made a brief stop in Old Navy to see if we could find any end-of-season bargains on pants, as Daniel had few pants remaining with intact knees. 

As I was digging through the sale racks, Daniel came up behind me and asked, "Mom, will you please buy me these?" He held up these shorts. I was so surprised I couldn't even say anything at first. He interpreted this hesitation as the precursor to a No and continued, "I really, really like them. Please can I have them?"

All I could say was, "Sure!"

My shock stemmed from the unexpected expression of an actual opinion about what he would wear. Both boys have always operated on the "wear whatever is on the top of the pile in my drawer" school of sartorial expression. I, in turn, have kept the drawers full of navy, black and grey bottoms to minimize opportunities for egregious clashing. 

Who knew that Daniel was secretly pining for a preppier look?

Unfortunately, he would not let me take a better photo. Maybe next time…