the problem with jeans

I still don't know what it is because he won't tell me, but Boston hates--and I mean throw-himself-on-the-floor-and-scream-for-an-hour-or-until-he's-exhausted-whichever-comes-last kind of hate--wearing jeans. He is a self-proclaimed sweats man. That's fine for when we're at home, but when we go out I don't want him looking like no other pants fit, y'know?

One day he was so upset about it that when he rummaged through his drawers and didn't find any other pairs of pants he actually pulled out one of his pajama shirts and tried to put it on as pants. After additional searching the day ended up looking like this:



Yesterday was the granddaddy of all his fits about pants. I let him scream until I couldn't stand it anymore (I almost lasted 20 minutes) and then I yanked them off and told him that if he wanted to wear pants that day he had to wear those. I admit I didn't realize he knew every single place I keep pants. He looked everywhere and would periodically come out of his room wearing some smelly pajama pants or a soiled pair of sweats from earlier in the week--backwards. I'd pull them off and remind him of the only option he had for the day. He never did give in and since we had to go somewhere I made him a deal that if he wore the pants I wanted him to when we went out, he could change them when we got home.

And this morning I realized there was a solution so simple and elegant I can't believe I didn't think of it before. This morning I institute our first home-pants/out-pants program. When we're at home he can wear home-pants (sweats) and when we go out he wears his nicer ones. This morning was the first morning in weeks that Boston has not thrown a tantrum about pants.

Hallelujah. Maybe someday he'll be able to explain to me why jeans are "not pants".