The Case of the Flaming Pants

I have a particular passion for bargain shopping -- particularly trolling the local Goodwill shops for exceptional finds that I might not otherwise be able to acquire.  Being a photographer, these stores can be especially handy places for finding props that I might otherwise pay insane amounts for from a photography prop store. Much like shopping for wedding supplies, if one attaches the title of "prop" to anything, it immediately quadruples in price. For example, a "Santa's Sleigh" will run about $200 or more from an official photography supply store.  I paid $4.95 for one that I found at the Salvation Army down the street.  But I digress....

The main purpose of this entry is to describe the lovely experiences I've had shopping of late with my darling 4-year-old at the Goodwill store down the street.  He loves coming along on my excursions; excited about what treasures he might find in the toy aisle, or just looking forward to playing hide-and-seek amongst the pants while I search for jeans that might be worth something on ebay.

About a week ago we went on one such outing, and he ran over to the children's department and immediately grabbed a pair of black pajama pants with red and orange flames all over them.  He ran over to me as fast as his little four-year-old legs would carry him, and shouted, "Look, Mom!!!  Fire pants!!!"   He actually DRAGGED me to the dressing room to try them on, and wouldn't you know... they fit.  They are now his favorite pajama pants, and he recently wore them to school on "PJ and Movie Day" (the name says it all), paired with an orange shirt emblazoned with a picture of a chicken wearing sunglasses while flying an airplane above the slogan "Hot Wings."  The entire effect was magical, I tell you.

So today we went on another such excursion, and as I was happily browsing through the women's jeans and writing down the names of brands that might be worth researching for their resale value on ebay, my darling son comes running over to me with.... wait for it.... ANOTHER pair of flaming pants.  IDENTICAL flaming pants... in teenage boy size.  He holds them up proudly for me and said, "Look, Mommy!  Fire pants for YOU TOO!!!"  I laugh and say, "That's great, but those won't fit me.  They're for kids."  Evan defiantly holds them up against me and proudly announces, "No, Mommy, they're perfect.  Look -- they're just the right size!"  And they were.  Apparently I am a teen boy size small in pajama pants.

So... we now have matching flaming pants.  And here is the picture of myself and my proud boy showing off our incredible finds... in all our hideous fashionable glory!  These are the moments I will look back on and say, "Those were the good old days!"   Note -- if I had known what an unfortunate view of my backside this picture would have provided, I never would have allowed it to be taken.  Nevertheless... this blog screams for a picture, and I just had to provide one... so I at least cropped it to allow for the most flattering "rear view" possible (believe me... the original was pretty obscene!)