Those Stupid Overalls

Last Saturday I went to a consignment sale that was sponsored by a local parents group. Everything a parent or child could need or want (from birth through grade school at least) was there. Clothes, shoes, toys, furniture, bedding, décor etc. Everything was organized by category and/or size. Each item was labeled by its consignor with a description and price. It was a big venue and very clean – all in all it promised to be a great sale.


For the most part, prices were good, but surprisingly I wasn’t finding a lot. As I rummaged through the racks and tables, I did pick out a couple shirts that Little Guy can wear now and a new sheet for his crib. Most of the things I liked were the wrong size or the wrong season. I was a bit disappointed, and was almost ready to leave when I spotted one rack that I hadn’t checked out yet.

Almost immediately I spotted them - a pair of striped railroad style Osh Kosh bib overalls. I glanced at the tag and was very happy to see that they were Little Guy’s size AND only $2.00. Bargain! Also, with Little Guy’s fairly intense love of trains and railroads, I had a feeling he’d like them a lot.

I had already removed the hanger from the rack when the item description caught my eye. In neatly hand printed ink, it said “Those Stupid Overalls”.

“That’s curious” I thought to myself. I looked them over carefully but could see nothing wrong (or stupid) about them at all. I shrugged, made my way to the cashier and paid.

On Monday morning, we brought out the freshly laundered overalls for Little Guy to wear to daycare. To say he liked them on sight, would be quite an understatement.

“All Aboard Pants!” he yelled in glee. “All Aboard Pants”. He clapped. He did a funny little jig. He grinned from ear to ear. He was in two-year-old ecstasy.

We laughed as we helped him put them on. How adorable! How cute! Nothing stupid about these overalls at all.

He was happy as a clam….until bedtime. When he realized that we were making him take off his (now beloved) All Aboard Pants and replace them with pajamas, his little heart almost broke. He was crushed. The only way we were able to console him, was to promise that he could wear them again the next day.

I’ll admit, we intended this to be an empty promise (bad parents I know). We (wrongly) assumed that if they weren’t laying about where he would see them the next morning, he wouldn’t even remember.

Not so.

After breakfast on Tuesday morning, we walked hand in hand back to his room to get him ready for the day. Before he had even crossed the threshold into his room, he looked up at me with those beautiful eyes glowing, “All Aboard Pants, Mom?” he asked excitedly.

“Oh.” I replied, “Yes, of course Sweetie.” And (after retrieving them from their hiding spot) we put them on - again. And once again he was happy all day long – until bedtime.

I bet that you have now guessed how this week has gone. It’s Friday, and he’s now worn the same “All Aboard Pants” to daycare every day. Granted, they’ve now seen the laundry room on two of those five days (and will again later tonight), and each day we’ve put a different shirt under that striped denim, but still…. FIVE days we’ve shipped him off to the babysitter in those same overalls.

Grrrr Those Stupid Overalls…

Oh, wait. Now I get it. Now I understand the Mother who filled out that consignment tag. I bet she had a little train-loving toddler too. I think I know how frustrated that pair of pants made her, but I also think I know that they probably brought her little boy so much joy she couldn’t bear to get rid of them until he’d outgrown them completely. I know, because that’s how I feel. Nothing makes a parent feel as good as seeing such sheer and unadulterated joy in their child. I wouldn’t give that up for all the different outfits in the world – though he has lots of other cute clothes he could be wearing.

And surely this phase will pass and he’ll soon be wearing a different outfit every day again… right?

Our Little Guy, all decked out in his "All Aboard Hat" and "All Aboard Pants"