Fancy

Ethan and I often end up going shopping on Saturday mornings. I go because it’s the one time I have available to run errands when the stores aren’t crazy-busy. Ethan comes along because he still wants to spend as much time as possible with Mom.

This past weekend, I was going to the big Gala for Ethan’s school, so I decided I wanted to buy myself a new shirt to wear. I didn’t want to spend much, so I figured I would see what they had at Target while picking up other things we needed. 

After picking up a couple of birthday presents for Ethan’s friends (March is the birthday month in his circle of friends), we hit the women’s clothing department. Ethan immediately swung into gear and asked if he could help me pick out clothes. 

“I like this, Mom. It’s my style,” he said, picking out some embellished t-shirts and fancy dresses. He continued through the department, pointing out things he liked as I narrowed down for him what I was looking for. 

He happily went from one display to the next, picking out things he liked. Then he turned to me and said, ”I can’t help it, Mom. At this stage in my life, I’m into fancy. You need more fancy clothes.” I nearly choked.

Eventually, we managed to find several items that met his need for “fancy” with my need for something that didn’t look ridiculous on me, and we moved on to the home furnishings department, where Ethan picked out a new comforter set and blanket for his bed. (Fancy, of course.) He was rapturous about some of the curtains (which I wouldn’t let him buy on this trip), and got a little ornery when I made him walk past the candle aisle without stopping. 

Ethan has now decided that he “owns” three areas of the house for decorating — his bedroom, the hallway where his art table is, and his bathroom. And he is diligently working on decorating all three areas in his style — fancy.