The Infinite Panda Jacket Crisis

[ricevermicelli]

My son is deeply, deeply attached to his Panda Jacket - a dark red hoodie with four cartwheeling pandas appliqued on it. He wears it every day. Sometimes he refuses all other garments. He is outgrowing the Panda Jacket, and I foresaw a crisis.

So I checked out eBay and there! for the low low price of $10 plus shipping! was a brand new identical Panda Jacket in a larger size. It arrived at our house today. We unwrapped it in the front hall, with the young man looking on.

DO NOT DO THIS! NEVER DO THIS! IF YOU MUST REPLACE SUCH AN ITEM, SNEAK IT IN WITH THE LAUNDRY CYCLE!

My son pointed at the new jacket, crowing "Panda!", and then looked at the sleeve of the jacket he was wearing. Confusion quite visibly dawned. He checked out his chest - yup, pandas there too. He took off his old jacket and reached for the new one. And then he burst into tears. He clearly wanted the Panda Jacket, but couldn't figure out which one. It was like he thought the wrong one might be evil.

He made it past this crisis, and is sleeping (or at least quiet) now. Possibly he is postulating about alternate universes and the nature of existence. Or, more probably, dreaming of Batman.

Comments

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

Poor baby. And yet, I laugh. (And hope he's forgotten about it in the morning.) It might be a good idea to wash the replacement a few times before sneaking it in, so it smells right.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

maybe old panda jacket can be put on a teddy bear or something? and he can has new panda jacket, and together, he and something can proudly go forth with their gang colors?

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[kateyule.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's gooood.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

nobody messes with the panda gang!

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[naomikritzer]

Kiera went through a phase like this. First, she fixated on a pair of striped fleece socks. Then, she fixated on her puffy red winter coat, which she wanted to wear at all times, including mealtime and bed. The coat obsession lasted for only about a week, but the obsession with the stripey fleece socks lasted a lot longer (and weirdly was accompanied by an insistence on wearing her blue sneakers to bed, and a nightly tantrum when she wasn't allowed to. I had to draw the line at the sneakers because she slept in my bed and liked to kick me all night.)

It's funny to look at those now. She's still (at five) a rather exacting child. She also likes to wear footwear to bed, but these days it's a pair of fleece Land's End slippers that she insists on wearing to bed every night.

[roozle.livejournal.com]

You are SO right.

[chessdev.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the warning -- we're nearing a similar turning point and would have probably done what you did.

Kid fixations are hard to predict

[drwex]

K has a few, and they're tough to dislodge. L has a lot and shifts them around more or less at whim. heaven help the parents who cross the current whim, though.