I wish I could remember what it was like to think like a child. My youngest son, who is very intelligent, decided to wear the same shirt to school today that he wore yesterday. I guess I need to explain that he only bathes every other night because he has a tendency toward really dry skin. So we've explained to him that on nights that he doesn't bathe he needs to at least change his underwear and get a wet cloth and clean the area that the underwear covers. He's only 9, so he's not especially stinky, most of the time.

It wouldn't have been an issue if I had noticed BEFORE we got to school. But I didn't. I mistakenly thought that I was past the days of checking the boy's clothing before we left the house. I know -- silly me. After all, I am the mother of boys, and they are 9 and 13. I should have known better.

So we drop the oldest off at his school and swing around to the next school. As I am reaching over the back seat to give him his lunch money, the shirt registers in my brain. I try to look at his clothing as he gets out of the car every morning, just in case I have to describe what he was wearing to someone. I've always been amazed at the parent's of lost children that can describe exactly what their child was wearing. It occurred to me once upon hearing an Amber Alert, that I had no clue what my children were wearing. From then on I try to take note. There's no way I could look at their closet and tell you what was missing. They each own between 20 & 30 t-shirts. The pants would be easy. Blue jeans for the eldest and shorts for the youngest. Denim for both.

Sorry, I got sidetracked from the real issue of this post. Back to the t-shirt crisis.

As we pull into the parking lot I hand him his lunch money and look at his clothing. It does actually register in my brain that this is the same t-shirt as yesterday morning, only slightly dirtier. I immediately ask as sweetly as possible, "Son -- why are you still wearing yesterday's shirt!????" He has no answer. It never occurred to him that a clean shirt was necessary for school.

I switch to crisis mode and try to figure out how I can get him to class on time in a clean shirt. Luckily the school was still selling Spirit shirts, and we had not bought one yet. So, even though it is not Spirit Day (that's on Friday), he is wearing his Spirit Shirt.

Crisis solved. Mass hysteria averted. I don't look like an incompetent mom in front of the 20 or so teachers at the school and he doesn't stink. And we have learned an important lesson: His lesson - You must wear a clean shirt every day; My lesson - Do the "What was your kid wearing" check before you leave the house. Because, you know, I didn't have enough to think about while we leave for school each morning.

Kids -- what would we do without them?