Skip to main content

The Adventures of Pajama Man

One thing I love about being a parent is observing the different personalities of our children.  In our family, we have children who are social, shy, outgoing, intellectual, humorous, sensitive, quirky, organized, artistic, patient, excitable, and more.  Today, we will talk a little about Andrew.

Over the past few months, Andrew has developed an extreme affection for his pajamas.  He doesn't really have a favorite pair--maybe spiderman, but he will wear any of them.  Today, for example, he is wearing a combination of two types of pajamas that Grandma Mergenthaler has made for the boys over the years.

Last week, he wore his Spiderman pajamas for about 3 days before I insisted that they be washed:


Andrew has always had an interesting taste in clothes, as you know from our "What Not to Wear Series."  Now, he doesn't bother with clothes--only pajamas will do.

You can imagine that this presents a problem when we have to go anywhere.  I have to plan ahead for a struggle in getting Andrew to put some clothes on.  If we are just going to the store or a basketball game or something, I will allow Andrew to wear his pajamas under his clothes.  This works OK for cold weather, anyway.

The only time the pajama habit is really difficult is when Andrew has to go to preschool.  I won't let him wear his pajamas under his clothes for two reasons:  1)  He would be too stinking hot, and 2) Within minutes of me dropping him off, he would stash his clothes in his cubby and remain in pajamas at preschool.

What do you think his fascination with pajamas is about?  At first, I thought he just feels more comfortable in loose, elastic-waisted clothing.  So I made sure he had some nice looking elastic-waisted pants and comfortable shirts in his normal clothing.  He wears these clothes to preschool, hesitantly, but as soon as he gets home, he is right back in pajamas.  He has even taken to packing a bag for himself with pajamas in it.  He stashes this bag in the van and changes into pajamas in the car when I pick him up.

A friend of mine suggested that maybe he feels safe in his pajamas.  That makes sense to me, so I will allow him to feel safe and secure as much as possible.

Now, about preschool . . . Andrew is attending the best preschool I have ever observed.  The teachers are exceptional!  They are positive and kind.  The program is well-organized.  The student-teacher ratio is very low.  As a result, the kids that attend the preschool are well-behaved, creating a perfect learning environment.  The curriculum encompasses everything I would hope my preschooler would learn in preparation for Kindergarten.  I cannot think of one bad thing to say about this place.  It is wonderful!!

Each month, the theme includes a certain color.  The children learn a song about this color and on the last preschool day of the month, the children dress in their color and sing the song for their parents.  See Andrew's video below.
If you compare this video to Ricky's Thanksgiving performance, you can see how differently Andrew and Ricky behave in these types of situations.  I'm glad I have both types in our family!

On this particular day, Andrew happened to be the child assigned to be the snack.  When you are the snack person, you are also the share person, the line leader, and the special helper during calendar.  I took some pictures of Andrew's special day.


Another thing that Andrew loves is The Magic Treehouse series.  You know how he loves to organize things . . . Well, he may not be able to read these books yet, but they go with him nearly everywhere.  He "reads" them to himself at night.  He organizes them into piles, stacking and restacking.  We don't have all the books in the series, but he loves them anyway.  He loves them so much, that he chose to bring them to share with his preschool class.  He already likes his teachers, but when he saw how nicely his teacher spread out his books to display for the class, he fell in love.
He also chose to share our Santa hat and his blue and green sunglasses.  The sunglasses have a funny story.  Last year, they disappeared (as do many things in our house).  They were gone for so long that we had all forgotten about them.  Andrew discovered them this year as he and Ricky helped to get out the Christmas decorations.  Somehow, they had gotten dropped in a Christmas box!  That's why Andrew likes to wear the Santa hat and sunglasses together.
A few more pictures . . . .We had a smattering of snow today.  We haven't really had snow yet this year, so Andrew and Sean couldn't hold back going outside to play in it.



In case you are wondering . . . . Yes, Andrew is wearing pajamas under his snow clothes.

Comments

Chelsey said…
The pajamas must just remind him of his favorite place to be...home. He'll be reading before you know it if he takes those books to bed with him every night. Aren't children so much fun? While it makes me happy to see them progress, I still get sad every once in a while to see them growing up because I know one day that means they won't need Mom anymore. Brad's reminding me though that Grandchildren will come sooner than I even realize. How scary is that?
December 12, 2011 at 10:52 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Back To School Meanies

 Letter From the Nest August 15, 2025 https://open.substack.com/pub/lettersfromthenest/p/back-to-school?r=48qui&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web One August, more than twenty years ago, at an evening book club discussion, my “older” friends (now I look back and know those women were the age I am now), were discussing the woes and triumphs of back-to-school season. One woman was anticipating her youngest child’s senior year of high school. She said, “For more than two decades, our lives have revolved around the school district’s academic calendar. I don’t know how I will plan my life without knowing about school breaks or holidays.” I remember her bittersweet tone as she anticipated freedom from school schedule constraints but also mourned how those constraints guided her choices. What would she do? Other women joined the discussion, wondering if their kids would have good teachers, if they’d be able to balance volunteering in the classroom, how to streamline school supply pu...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Legacy Stinks

 Letters from the Nest https://lettersfromthenest.substack.com/p/my-legacy-stinks Lately, I have been asking you, “What will you do to make Sunday special?” This is me encouraging you in your worship without giving you a prescribed list of things to do. One thing I do differently on Sundays is that I read a Sunday book that’s “different” than the fiction I read during the week. Usually, it’s a religious book, but sometimes it’s an inspiring biography or narrative nonfiction with an uplifting theme. My Sunday book for the past few months has been “Both Things Are True,” by Kate Holbrook. This collection of essays explores a range of topics, including faith, forgiveness, women’s roles, trials, history, and more. Each chapter contains a dichotomy that fuels the discussion. For example, the chapter on forgiveness explores both the concepts of forgetting and remembering. Last Sunday, I began reading the chapter entitled "The Weight of Legacy," in which she discusses the dichotomy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lyme Disease??

Let me just preface this by saying that I am soooo grateful for good health insurance. I have been to the Dr. for the kids lately so often, that I am embarrassed that they recognize our family when we walk in the door. So, here's Ricky's story. A couple of weeks ago he was extremely sick. He had a fever for over a week, complained that he couldn't move his legs, and ended up with an awful looking rash all over his body. We went to the Dr. 2 times for this. The first time, she said, it was a virus and it should run its course. When Ricky was getting worse, instead of better, we took him back in to a quick clinic where the nurse diagnosed him with strep (even though the short test was negative). Well, after a priesthood blessing and antibiotics (which we discovered later that he didn't even need to take--and in fact they may have made him feel worse), he got better. Then, last week, I discovered a new, crazy rash on his legs which continued to grow, turn purple on the in...
5 comments
Read more