Messy Minded Momma

Shirt, socks, track pants and all.

Last night my son slept in tomorrow.

Bedtime routines in our household are very cut and paste. So much so, I often feel like I’m living in a never-ending cycle of Groundhog Day.

TV goes off one hour before bedtime. We make our way upstairs for bath time. My son removes his clothes in anticipation, often leaving his underwear folded inside his pants. I run the water while he meticulously sorts through his Hot Wheels and Monster Trucks, lining them up on the ledge of the tub before splashing them inside. “Cannon ball!” he shouts. Splash.

Sometimes we wash his hair and body. Other times it is strictly playtime.

After about twenty minutes he gets out of the tub, puts on his pajamas, we pick out his clothes for the next day, and then he selects a few stories and we read until it’s time for lights out.

A few nights ago my son asked to sleep in a clean T-shirt and underwear. I agreed.

Last night, after bath time, instead of putting on his pajamas, my son picked out his school clothes and put them on. T-shirt, underwear, socks, and track pants. Head to toe.

With a very serious look on his face he said, “Mom, I’m sleeping in my clothes tonight.”

My first reaction was to say no. We cannot sleep in our daytime clothes. Pajamas are for nighttime, and regular clothes are for daytime. That’s the system.

Then it hit me.

When I was his age, I used to try and do the exact same thing.

I remember putting on my morning clothes, dressed from head to toe, under my pink, knee-length nightgown and crawling into bed thinking I had completely outsmarted my parents. Only my parents didn’t let me get away with it.

And here my son is, doing the exact same thing I used to do 30+ years ago.

Kid logic hasn’t changed much in 30 years. Get dressed at bedtime for tomorrow so I can watch more TV in the morning and have one less thing to do before school.

Honestly, it’s hard to argue with that level of efficiency.

Adults create entire systems to prepare for the next day. We set alarms, lay out clothes, pack lunches, and write reminders on sticky notes.

Kids skip all that and go straight to the obvious solution. Just wear tomorrow.

But what has changed is my generation’s ability to break cycles.

So my son sleeps in his clean clothes. It’s really no different than when he has PJ Day at school and puts on a clean pair to wear the next morning. To him, clothes are clothes. The categories we adults have created don’t really exist yet. I’m ok with it. I understand this is just another small developmental stage and, like many things in parenting, it too shall pass.

Unless he starts requesting to sleep in jeans. That’s just weird.