Fashion scents

Case,

I hope that you will grow up to appreciate the finer things in life. Things like a brief, heavy rain on a sunny day. Things like the first time a song's lyrics truly grab you. Things like ... wearing pants if you don't have to.

Style, son, is not my strong suit (see what I did there?). For all matters of fashion, consult your mom. Or the homeless guy at the grocery store. Anyone but me. Now, I'm perfectly content with how I dress (your mom is rolling her eyes as she reads this), but I understand that not everyone prefers sleeveless shirts and shorts. In November. Sometimes I wish I had a finer appreciation of fashion. But then I put on the pair of jeans I've worn the previous two days, head to work and forget about it.

The other day I mentioned to your mom that raising a newborn as we are makes it even more difficult to dress appropriately. I already had no qualms about running errands in athletic shorts, a faded Bears t-shirt I picked up off the floor and no socks. Now, if that "outfit" happens to have dried spit-up on it from a 4 a.m. feeding that went sideways, well, I'm still going to the bank in it.

So, it would be nice if you were to become a more dapper man than I (I can't help but type how you're a more diaper man. I know, I know. That was awful.).

You may be doomed, however. When I was young, I can remember watching your Uncle Jack come and go (even in the dead of winter) with nothing but a T-shirt, sometimes without sleeves. As an 8-year-old, that seemed like the coolest thing in the world. As a 39-year-old, that's highly questionable and sometimes offensive, but once the dye is cast ... Anyway, while I hope to influence you in many ways, I'm kind of hoping you won't follow in my fashion footsteps. (Which reminds me, the first time you ask me for a popular pair of shoes, the answer is no; they cost too much.)

But if you decide you'd rather dress for comfort than for speed, I'll back you up, Magoo. Like they say, clothes make the man. :)

Love,
Dad