September 10

All of my children have gone through 'interesting clothing choice' phases. Abby completely rejected any and all pants (and spewed particularly strong vitriol at denim) in favor of leggings and skirts for a time. Isaac once had a special affinity for formal clothing like button-down shirts and vests. And Logan, well, Logan once had a special interest in running around buck naked. I think Adam and I both share a giggle-worthy memory of him at age two or three splashing in the fountain at our alma mater in southern California; he gleefully stripped off every stitch of his clothing before we could even begin to process what he was doing. And Brady? Brady likes to mismatch his socks.

The mismatches are often so ridiculously egregious that one of his baseball coaches has asked me if he even owns any socks that match. He does, of course, but there's something irresistibly fun about wearing two that look nothing alike; of creating pairs that don't look like pairs at all.

I'm a rule-follower and I could get annoyed about being The Mom Whose Kid's Socks Never Match, and honestly, a few years ago I probably would have insisted that he never leave the house like that. But now? It's not a big deal. So for that change in my perspective --my increasing willingness to not sweat the small stuff-- and for my kids marching to the beats of their own drummers, I'm grateful. Because this life is far too short to be stuck on things that don't really matter.