Ari’s favorite color is red. He wants to wear red. Every. Single. Day.
But…
Today was different. Ari picked out a yellow short-sleeve shirt from his drawer. I was shocked, but didn’t let it show since I’ve been washing his red shirts constantly.
“I need you to wear something on top of this shirt since it has short sleeves. How about this hoodie?” I asked.
“Okay,” he replied. I was surprised again since there wasn’t a speck of red on the hoodie I showed him.
“Would you like to pick your pants?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said as we slid open his pants drawer.
“Jeans or blue fleece pants?” I asked.
“Blue!” he declared.
I got Ari dressed. Then, I walked into my room to dress myself. He didn’t follow. Therefore, I walked back to his room to see what he was doing. (It was too quiet.) I found him on the floor with a pair of socks that he picked. Again, I was surprised since not only did they not have any red on them, but they matched his outfit perfectly.
“Did you pick those?” I asked.
“Yes!” he replied.
“Do you need help putting them on your feet?”
“I need help,” he said.
“I’ll help you,” I said sitting beside him to slide the perfectly-matched socks onto his feet.
Raising Literate Humans 
So cute! Maybe his blue clothing will stay in the rotation!
We shall see… (If you look back on the slices I wrote in the past week, he has red on in almost all of them.)
It’s fascinating how they change – and how quickly! I wonder if red will be back tomorrow or if blue and yellow are here to stay? Also, have you read Red Is Best? This might be just the right picture book for the moment… or he might be a little too little.
I’ve never heard of Red Is Best. I’ll have to check it out.
Just like that Ari’s ideas shifted. Growing and developing is such amazing alchemy. I never tire of observing how kids think, learn, and change. You go, amazing Ari!
Funny how they can change overnight, isn’t it?
Ari’s got a definite sense of complementary colors. I wonder if he’s always this amicable when it comes to getting dressed in the morning. 🙂
He is… as long as he gets to pick his clothes.
That’s awesome!
Isn’t it amazing how fast they can grow and change? Enjoy this time- later in the teens, they will be back to the same outfit every day – jeans and t shirt!
I know that’s coming!
Ahhh- the “me do” phase! You have to schedule in lots of buffer time for that. These morsels of life will be so fun to revisit when Ari’s older. He’s going to really chuckle at what you’ve captured!
Everything takes longer these days. It’s okay. He makes life fun!
Do you remember the Olivia stories by Ian Falconer? All black-and-white, except Olivia’s accessories. She loved the color red. How much fun to watch Ari each day and observe these changes and he discovers more about himself, his family, and the world around him. Each day, a new page to write on!
We have the Olivia books. Iz loves them. I’ll have to introduce them to Ari.
Wow, kids can be so surprising! No red today!? Love the dialogue, Stacey. I feel like it shows the typical way parental time goes by… slower. But then the child’s passage of time…quicker. They change so quickly, it feels! Thanks for this 🙂
Yes, everything is slower with kids around. You know the saying: the days are long, the years are short. ‘Tis true.
What an adorable memory! Too cute!
another sweet post! Matching… my 7th grader still doesn’t match – still doesn’t care. He still HATES wearing jeans too (he even wrote a song about his distaste for jeans once). Sometimes I still catch him trying to match green with another shade of green and it totally doesn’t match… Then there is my daughter, a fifth grader. She loves to mismatch everything, but somehow it works for her.
I’ve never understood the mismatch thing, but I know there are many kids who are devoted to it. Whatever works!
It drives me crazy, but I have learned to embrace it
Your dialogue puts me in the room!
I love the outfits my kids used to pick out – I never knew what they would come down wearing each morning. I learned to let go of matching outfits unless it was a special occasion.
Always a surprise!
Haha! It’s blue in our house. Blue plates, blue cups, blue clothes, blue toothbrush…
I’m sure a blue phase will eventually arrive.
“It was too quiet” – oh how moms know that ‘sound’!