He Said She Said: Fred Cool

Last week the weather warmed up enough for the kids to play outside so I layered them in sweatshirts and hoodies and tugged hats and gloves on them, despite their loud protests that they didn't need their fingers covered. I knew better, of course.

They played on the swingset in the backyard while I made some progress toward clearing the overgrown brush away from the fenceline. Shortly after, I noticed that M's jacket was halfway unzipped, so I put my trimmers down and went over to zip it up again. A few minutes later, I noticed that the zipper had once again wandered halfway down and I asked him to pull it up. He obliged with a roll of his eyes. When I noticed him pulling it down for the third time, I scolded him and said that it really wasn't warm enough to be running around half-dressed (that sounds a little dramatic now, but I was trying to make a point!) His reply?

"But Mom, I wanna look cool like Mr. Rogers!"

I totally cracked up. And then I realized that all too soon, I'll be aching for the days when Mr. Rogers was his fashion inspiration. And so to honor Fred and this fleeting season of childhood innocence, M wore his jacket half-zipped the rest of the day.

PS. In case you're wondering, we found Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on Sunday re-runs, so we DVR it weekly and the kids watch it in rapt attention. It's the best 30 minutes of the week!