I Should Have Been Taking Pictures All Along

Some people dress their kids to impress, buying expensive name-brand clothes that they quickly outgrow. I tried this with Sky for about six months, and then I realized that my fashion commitments lie elsewhere. Why dress your kid well, when you can dress him ironically? 

This will always and forever be my favorite. 

Multiple trips to Japan have given me ample opportunity to buy some awesome clothes for the kids.  Of course, as soon as I decided to write this post, I realized I can't find half of their cool t-shirts. I'll be switching out the winter and summer clothes soon and promise I'll take more pictures. For now, here's what I've got! (Oh, and apologies in advance for the poor photography skills--my targets are almost always moving...)

Might Soy Los Angeles (Look! A soy bean super hero!!)

Little Pigs BBQ -- This one could be for real, but the question is: Why?

Random Keith Haring art.

An almost-but-not-quite grammatically correct advertising for MIKEPOPCORN.

Sometimes the misplacement of a tiny particle makes all the difference.

Saftey Drive 60 Enjoy Holiday

I Like Banana No. 1. Big Banana was Found. (This shirt is awesome because it's super awkward but also very true. There's nothing Stow loves like a big banana.)

Of course, it's not all about making a statement. Over the years, I've also realized that Japanese clothes wash a heck of a lot better than other stuff. They dry quickly.  They are lighter weight, pack better, and hold up better from kid to kid. Who knew there'd be a bright side to the Japanese habit of hanging clothes on the line to dry?

Now that my kids are older, they don't always appreciate dressing ironically. Fortunately, they've inherited my off-beat sense of humor, so if I explain what's funny about the shirts, they usually still want to wear them. Unfortunately, some of their classmates like to make fun of things that are different. From seaweed to funny pictures on shirts, some kids just aren't cool about it. Pink refused to take onigiri (rice balls) for awhile because one of the boys said to another, "Ooo, look! There's fish poop on that." Telling them to ignore ignorance doesn't always work, so lately I've been teaching my kids a new response that gets more to the point:

"That's rude. You don't know what you're talking about, so you should stop talking now."

I'll let you know how it goes...