I sent my kid to school in PJs. For those of you who have elementary-aged kids, you know this is not unusual. Heck, I feel like we've had 10 different PJ-Days in the past three months of school. I think the school believes that PJ Days are like reward-days for kids- so the kids get to dress in PJs if they win a class award, or an in-class award, or if they give back to the school in some way.
So, thinking it was one of these PJ Days, I sent my kid to school in his PJs.
What I did not realize, that morning as I sent my kid along, was that his class was having a field trip that day. A field trip to a theatrical performance. A theatrical performance about a very somber and respectful subject. And every kid in his grade level was asked to wear formal attire to this theatrical field trip.
My kid was the only kid in PJs. He had two classmates that dressed in tuxedos. Several classmates wore suits. The girls wore beautiful dresses and fancy hair-dos. And my kid was rockin' plaid PJ pants and a Marvel t-shirt.
My guilt was palpable. The field trip was not on our family calendar! I ignored my son's suggestion that the day might be a Field Trip Day. We had just purchased some fancy duds for him to wear for this particular Field Trip- duds that sat, with anticipation, on his dresser.
My mind went into overdrive... He would be ostracized by peers. Shunned by school staff. His reputation, ostensibly, was ruined. Because of me. I was pretty sure I won the Bad Mom award of the day.
I picked him up at the end of the day, feeling too guilty to make eye contact. The first thing he said to me (after saying Hello) was, "You know, Mom, today was the Field Trip. I was the only guy in PJs." I apologized to the point of tears. Then, you know what he said to me?
"It's okay Mom. We all screw up sometimes. It wasn't all that bad, actually. A lot of the older kids complimented me because I looked different. Everyone seemed to notice and they thought it was cool. I didn't know so many older kids are into Marvel."
So, what's the point of this story? That I'm a bad Mom? That my kid is a freakin' awesome guy? Nope. None of that.
The point is... Worry is interest paid on a debt you may not even owe.
And, very little can go wrong when you're wearing a Marvel t-shirt.