A hard lesson learned...

You see this shirt?

I know, I know, the toddler inside the shirt is distractingly cute, but we're focusing on the shirt here today folks. More importantly, what is ON the shirt. 

My family has jumped on the mustache lovin' train. I love them. My boys love them. Ray thinks they're hilarious and that it proves the point that this beard he's grown is totally justified, because facial hair is as cool as it gets.

 

Yes, I look like I'm married to a hippy. That's ok, I still love him.

Back to my original story though. Blaine wanted a t-shirt with a mustache on it. Well, as anyone who knows me should know, you don't have to ask me to make you something twice! I immediately pulled out the wunder under and some black fabric and got to work. Blaine was super excited to wear it to school so he did the very next day. Blaine's happy, Momma is happy, should be the end of the story right? Except it's not...

I go to pick Blaine up from school that day and he's wearing his heavy coat and it's zipped all the way up. So I'm like "Blaine, what's with the coat? It's 70 degrees outside."

As it turns out, his friends laughed at his shirt. :( Oh my poor aching heart! It took everything I had in me not to march up to that school the next day and give those punk little 1st graders a good what for! But I had to stop and rethink the situation. I can't protect him from everything. And if I were to try to do so I would just be doing him a disservice. He needs to learn that life is not always sunshine and rainbows. People do mean things sometimes. But you have to learn how to rise above it and not care what others think of you. I need to teach him that as long as HE loves himself, other's opinions don't matter.  And I need to teach  myself that sometimes, I need to sit back and let him make the best of the situation life has handed him. Because if I were to try to handle every situation for him, he'll never learn how to do it for himself.  Not that it makes it any easier for me to do, but I know in the end, he will be a well adjusted young man. And the next time he sees someone being laughed at, my hope is instead of joining in, he'll do the right thing. 

In the meantime, Blaine has decided that he still loves his shirt and while he may not wear it to school again, he will be wearing it at home :) because Momma would never laugh at him, in fact she has plans to make her own matching shirt.

So all you mean 1st graders can put that in your juice box and suck it!