Big boy stuff

I made a horrific discovery today.

I was in the shops, looking for a t-shirt for Daniel, when my eye fell on a really cool loud green shirt. So, I do the mental math about what size I should buy, knowing he will be 7 in May and I start paging through the hangers. No size 7-8.

Weird.

So I look across the ocean of Spider-Man and Ben10 and spot nothing over size 6-7. Then it dawns on me: no more cool small boy stuff for my son, soon he will fall into the no-man’s land of 7-14. We are now venturing into unchartered territory.

Big boy territory.

To say I’m freaked would be a bit of an understatement. All I could think was how I should really just have another baby.

Apparently this is something that happens when your child goes to Grade 1, this wanting to re-Mother, but nothing prepared me for feeling this way. Part of me wants to push him out into the world, but an even bigger part of me wants to keep him in my arms, safe from being stereotyped and bullied and protect him from all the meanness that lurks in the world. But I know that this will also keep him from seeing all the love and the kindness and generosity, even though the hurtful things will stay with him for longer and teach him the biggest lessons.

Now I just need to put on my own big girl panties and deal with it.

How did you cope with your kids getting bigger?