16 Sizes

My son hates long pants, nice shorts and his sister. Well, he doesn’t really hate her, but she IS his sister. He always wears gym shorts and tee shirts. Even when it’s cold out, he wants to wear shorts.

Being conscientious parents, we thought we should at least buy him a couple pair of jeans in case he wanted to avoid frostbite. So while in a local department store, I bought him two pair – kids size 14. This summer he wore size 12 shorts, so I figured we’d be OK.

As it turned out, he had grown more than I thought. He’s not a heavy kid, but he is rock solid and athletic just like his dad. When he tried to button them, it wasn’t even close . . . just like his dad’s pants. That evening we headed back to swap them and this time, have him try them on.

First up were some size 16 jeans. One pair buttoned, but were uncomfortable. Next were the size 18’s. They all buttoned, but had zero room for growth, which he will definitely need . . . cause he’s just like his dad. He was getting frustrated and said, “We’ll never find any to fit my big ol’ self.” I had to laugh because he’s not big but we weren’t having much luck with the pants.

The final pair of size 18’s had a defective button. When he buttoned them, the metal button snapped off, hit the floor and bounced into the next dressing room. All he said was, “SEE!”

I decided we should try on some of the smaller men’s sizes and have them hemmed if needed. It turns out a kid’s size 18 is the same as a men’s size 28 waist. I grabbed a couple pair of men’s 30 waist and we headed back to the dressing room.

He tried them on . . . and . . . success! They fit great with even a little room to grow. He asked what size they were. I told him they were 30’s. He shouted, “I WENT UP SIXTEEN SIZES!” I said, “No, you didn’t go up sixteen sizes.” He said, “I went from a 14 to a 30. That’s SIXTEEN sizes!” How could I argue with that logic? Besides, he KNEW I’m no good at math!

On the way to the checkout, I explained the sizing differences. Here’s a kid that just spent the better part of an hour trying on several pairs of jeans that were too small. Finally he learned his size was, in his mind, sixteen sizes larger than last week. On the way to the car, he amazed me completely when he asked, “Can we get an ice cream now?” I was almost speechless, but did manage to utter, “What flavor?” He really is like his dad after all!