Tree Update; Man Pants; Cello Update; Thanksgiving Timing

The trees that were bothering the neighbors are COMING DOWN! It is quite exciting to watch. I have been running around inside the house like a hamster in a cage, looking out first one window and then another. Side note: when I went over to let the neighbor know when the tree guys were coming, she made a remark about how she was sorry to lose the shade. There are times when one just has to close one’s eyes very briefly.

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I know I have written about this before, but I am having trouble with pants for Rob. It started as soon as he left the boy sizes, which go 8, 10, 12, etc., up to as high as 20—and then suddenly it’s waist/inseam. Before, I could always buy pants ahead on clearance/sale, maybe $6-12 per pair. Now, who KNOWS what his waist/inseam will be, so I just have to wait and buy right after each growth spurt. I just paid $24 each for two pairs of pants and I’m feeling a little sick. And there’s no reason to think these will even work as handmedowns: the other boys could have totally different waist/inseam measurements! I am trying to be chill about this: this is not a weird amount of money to spend on clothes. But I’m also still checking Goodwill (and Target clearance) EVERY TIME, to see if I can build up his pants supply at a nicer price.

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We’re bringing Rob’s cello back to the store. It seems like so much fuss and hassle had to occur to find out it wasn’t a good fit for him—but I’m glad I did it, because I can picture this otherwise being one of those adulthood parent-blaming regrets where he’d imagine he would have been AWESOME at the cello IF ONLY his parents would have gone to a TINY bit of trouble to help him find out.

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I wish Thanksgiving were a couple weeks earlier. November 13th this year, for example. I feel like I can’t focus on Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but by the time Thanksgiving is over it feels like time to panic.

31 thoughts on “Tree Update; Man Pants; Cello Update; Thanksgiving Timing

  1. Jill

    My kids keep asking when we’re going to decorate for Christmas since all the stores are completely Christmas-d out already. I keep telling them after Thanksgiving, which actually kind of works out well. Our family will be here through Sunday, at which point it’s basically December and the perfect time to start putting out Christmas stuff.
    On the other hand, I’m scheduling a kids Christmas party and helping the PTA out with Christmas stuff and have been all ‘ho hum not even Thanksgiving yet’ and then a few days ago was like OMG it’s a month away! I need to get planning!

    Reply
    1. Swistle Post author

      YES, that is the exact feeling I get! “No need to worry, it’s not even Thanksgiving,” followed by “BUT WAIT CHRISTMAS IS IN FIVE WEEKS HOW CAN THAT BE.”

      Reply
  2. shawna

    Yes, unfortunately, thus year I focused too much on Christmas, too early. I have all my shopping done and everything else planned and mapped out. BUT I have given not one thought to Thanksgiving, haven’t even done grocery shopping.

    Reply
  3. Shawna

    Here in Canada we had Thanksgiving in October, which leaves a much more decent gap. Once Halloween is over, it’s open season on Christmas in the stores (this year I saw a bunch of Christmas stuff out beside the Halloween stuff, which seemed too early).

    Many of us wish the stores would wait until after Remembrance Day on November 11th before giving Christmas the full court press, but pretty much none of them do.

    Reply
  4. Kara

    Oh man, pants. My kids wear uniforms for school, so I need to stockpile khakis. On Friday, when I get paid, I need to buy about $100 worth of pants from Old Navy, because it seems Girl 1 jumped straight from size 6 to size 10 over the course of a summer. Middle kid now wears an 8, and we don’t own any of those. To add to it, Girl 1 is now in a 12, because she has hips. Not only that, but they probably won’t wear the pants very often (skirts with leggings being the favorite choice), but just need to have some on hand. Just in case.

    Reply
  5. Alice

    YES YES YES, I am traditionally very “#SAVETHANKSGIVING!!!!” about waiting until it’s over before allowing Christmassy thoughts, but I am totally starting to panic / feel odd that I haven’t started doing anything Christmassy yet. I am ostensibly hosting a big Xmas party on the 13th, which is in LESS THAN A MONTH ACK, but I feel weird sending out invites before Thanksgiving.. but by December it will give people less than 2 weeks notice. ARGH HOLIDAYS.

    Also my mom has 99% completed her Christmas shopping already, including wrapping all gifts. WTF.

    Reply
  6. shin ae

    For pants, we have been hitting Target clearance hard after each growth spurt. Thankfully this works for us because my older son (the man-sized one) is not terribly particular about how his pants fit, plus he’s partial to funky-colored pants. The prices on men’s clothing are shocking.

    I feel especially panicked about the holidays this year. I haven’t been sure why, but now I think it may well be for the reason you describe: late Thanksgiving, then IT’S ALL HAPPENING TOO FAST!

    Reply
  7. Leeann

    Pants.

    OMG the pants are killing me.

    I bought my 15 year old son three pair of new khaki pants (uniform) just before school started. He needed at 29×32- hard to find. That was in September.

    This past week, he has outgrown his pants. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME.
    He needs 29×34 now, which are really, really almost impossible to find. Apparently you need to have a waist of over 30 inches to be tall.

    GIVEN HOW MUCH HE EATS, WHY ISN’T HE FATTER? lol

    I’ll see you at the Poor House.

    Reply
    1. Carol

      I used to date a guy that wore a 29 x 42. FORTY-TWO. That is insane! And I am just a hair over five feet tall…I’m sure we were an odd looking couple.

      Reply
  8. StephLove

    I think the pants should work for someone down the line, with three younger brothers. And if they don’t, maybe two of the younger ones will have similar body shapes.

    Reply
  9. Jesabes

    Thanksgiving is proving to be a very good procrastination tool this year. I know I need to be planning for Christmas, but, eh. It’s so MUCH. I’ll just sit here and think about turkey. I have a feeling a huge amount of pressure is going to hit me the day after Thanksgiving.

    Reply
  10. Dani

    I had visions for slapping that neighbor woman. She’s outta her damn mind, Clearly.

    Pants: with Christmas right around the corner every store in America will soon have coupons and sales and I’ll bet you can find better deals then.

    Reply
  11. kimi

    It’s good to have given the cello a try; my parents let me try out the violin as a child, so it’s all my own fault that I’m not a virtuoso now. (My own son plays the cello and has refused to quit. It’s actually really annoying: “I don’t want to go to my lesson!” The next week: ” I had to cancel your lesson for a doctor’s appt, son” “But how will I learn?!!!” I just can’t win).

    Your neighbour sounds like my son.

    Reply
  12. Rachel

    I know I say this at least once a month here, but I just enjoy your voice SO MUCH. So much. I have no idea how much revenue this site generates for you, and I hope it is worth it for your family, but I am just so glad to enjoy this blog. So. Much.

    Reply
  13. Sally

    On the trousering front I will see your son and raise you one who topped 6’9″ at 16 – you just TRY finding ‘special’ sizes at a good price!

    Reply
  14. Laura

    Re: shopping for the teenage “man” – I realized how short I am on certain life skills when I went to buy my teenager a dress shirt and had no idea what neck size or arm size he is. Somewhat related, why don’t they size this way for women? Seems to make a great deal of sense for both genders. (ps – I love your older kid posts as I am flailing around in the dark so often about what other parents are doing/find acceptable in child raising.)

    Reply
  15. katie

    YES on the timing. YES. I REFUSE to do Christmas until after Thanksgiving. This year I’m not doing ANYTHING Christmas until after T-day. Usually I start shopping in early November. But then I realized it was taking me TWO full months of nonstop thinking about Christmas and shopping. So this year I am purposely procrastinating ON PURPOSE ON PURPOSE and not allowing myself to do anything til after. Because I figured that way I will only spend ONE month doing it. Rather than two. But its kind of stressing me out. But then I realized it stresses me out whenever it happens. So I’m going with my current plan for a while. Patently ignore til December 1. Then whip myself into a frenzy.

    Reply
  16. nonsoccermom

    Ugh, pants. I hadn’t even considered our upcoming Pant Situation. My son is 12 and we already have problems with sizing – he’s too tall for one size, too slim for the next size up. Frustrating. And he refuses to wear jeans (siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh) so now I’m trying to find athletic pants that 1) won’t fall apart after one wash and 2) fit in the waist w/o looking like he’s ready for a flood. Serenity now!

    Re: Christmas/Thanksgiving – I am having similar and randomly-timed freak-outs when I realize how late Thanksgiving is this year. I am very opposed to having anything Christmas before Thanksgiving (can’t even bring myself to start listening to Christmas music at this point, though I love me some holiday songs) but whoa with the timing. Eek.

    Reply
    1. Rayne of Terror

      I buy my tall slim son the Lands End girls track pants that are in the school uniform section. The waist is 2 inches smaller than the boys track pants and there is no indiction anywhere on the tag that they are girls. They come in red, black, and navy. I stalk that page for sales because they are NOT worth $28, and they get down to $12 or 14 a couple times a year and I stock up.

      Reply
  17. jill

    I looked at Kmart for jeans for my kid. They don’t make them small enough in the waist… which means I have to buy expensive ones, which will be too short before he wears them out.

    Reply
  18. chrissy

    I feel your pants pain. Wow, that sounded weird.

    My son is 12 and growing like a weed. We moved to a new state and had to buy a set of school uniforms quick…all pants that fit in the waist have a super long inseam. He wanted me to buy the ones that had the correct inseam, but he was sporting a permanent wedgie. I bought the bigger ones, but I still can’t find the box with my iron in it to hem them, so according to him, I’m scarring him for life making him wear these embarrassing pants.

    Reply
  19. april

    I just roll them all up into one lovely holiday season bundle and I’m happy. I got my tree down on Monday and set up, but we haven’t decorated it or the house yet so my kids ask EVERY DAY when we’re going to put the star on. So that might happen Friday.

    Reply
  20. Aubrey

    I’m with April…my husband and I started celebrating Christgivingmas a few years ago. The Christmas tree goes up on November 1st, with only the white lights, gold ornaments, and a cheap garland of fake fall leaves. Lots of attention is given to Thanksgiving, but we have a free pass in the house to watch Christmas movies, bake cookies, and listen to the Carpenters Holiday station on Pandora. This way we get to enjoy all of our favorite things without feeling stressed or rushed.

    Reply
  21. Laura Diniwilk

    I have always loved fall / Halloween / Thanksgiving but am just so MEH about winter / Christmas. It’s just not my thing so I try to put it off for as long as humanly possible. The girls are so excited and Christmas is just so magical for them that I really SHOULD get the tree and the lights up sooner this year. This was a good kick in the butt for me, thanks!

    Reply
  22. Idena

    Oh my… pants for young men. It was so hard with my oldest and hasn’t gotten easier for my youngest. There’s 13 years between them and I had hoped sizes and selection would have gotten better, but no, it has not. My boys are tall and solid. Husky sizes are too big, and normal/regular sizes too snug. For my almost 9 year old I have started looking at the men’s section in Target. I’ve found some XS elastic wait (pull on) pants that work. They are a little long, but that’s not a big deal.

    As for Christmas, this is the first year I’ve ever EVER decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving. And I’m so happy! I can still enjoy Thanksgiving 100% even with a few Christmas decorations up in the house (the tree is the only item left for after Thanksgiving). I am not a Halloween fan, and I have friends who decorated for Halloween (a strange concept for me) in September. If they can do that, I can decorate for Christmas in mid-November. And, I rationalize it by saying that a pregnancy takes 9 months, and we’re anticipating the birth of a baby, so it’s okay to celebrate for as much of the pregnancy as we want to. That may not make much sense (my husband says it does not), but it makes sense to me, and I’m the one decorating the house!

    Reply

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