Fashion Emergency

Nico and I are in the midst of our first fashion conflict. For Christmas my mother-in-law gave him a shiny electric green jacket covered with various insignia, metallic accents and an enormous gold zipper. He thinks it makes him look like a soldier, perhaps because of the gold epaulets (did I mention the epaulets?). I think it makes him look like a backup dancer for Gwen Stefani.

Nico believes the jacket makes him look very “hanson” and since he’s so proud of it, I don’t have the heart to tell him what I really think. So I engage in more subtle forms of resistance, the main one being to bury it in the bottom of the dirty laundry for as long as possible. Unfortunately he has caught on to this strategy and has taken to reminding me every night to make sure and wash the jacket so that he can wear it to school the next day. Because he insists on wearing it EVERY day. EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Not only that, he also keeps a careful mental record of who likes the jacket, who does not and who has not expressed any opinion at all. His best friends Sergio, Lucas and Bernat all think the jacket is cool and Luisa thinks it is a pretty color. All of the professoras have commented on how nice it is except Marta who has said nothing at all and this disturbs him.  Miriam from carpool has stated unequivocably that she does not like the jacket AT. ALL. Rather than take it to heart though, Nico has concluded that this only means she is jealous because  A. She would like a jacket like this for herself, and B. She wants more people to pay attention to her new boots.

My Colombian mother-in-law has very different taste than I do. She also loves giving clothing to her grandchildren. However, until now it hasn’t really been a problem since Nico hasn’t ever really cared that much about what he’s worn before (other than that time when he was two and insisted on wearing black leather dress shoes everyday for 3 months).  Lately he has become something of a dandy, his favorite outfit being black pants, a black shirt, a belt and of course, The Jacket. He has also asked me to blow-dry his hair for him twice in the past week.

His growing awareness of appearance has also extended to me and although he’s usually complimentary about the way I look, he’s been growing more demanding. This morning he asked me “Mommy, do you like being pretty?” Thinking it was a compliment, I smiled and told him that of course I like being pretty. “Okay then,” he responded, “today when you pick me up from school you should comb your hair, put it back with one of those flat clips, put makeup on your eyes and wear your tall black boots. Then you will be pretty.”

Hopefully this is a phase.

Recently Cooking:

-small hake, baked with fish stock, white wine, potatoes, oregano and tomatoes. Nico picked them out and insisted we cook them with the heads on. We were unimpressed with the results. Luca spit about 75% of it out, but that’s normal for him.