This is my super nice son-in-law Tyler, a good looking guy who loves clothes and any opportunity to dress up and have fun! Along with the rest of our family, he is looking forward to an upcoming vacation to the Cayman Islands and is planning what resort wear he will bring. One particular item he decided to buy for the trip was a set of matching shirts for himself and his 4yr old son, Henry. Cool, right?

Sounded cool to me. Well, something went amiss as I discovered in a visit with Hayley…

“Mom, remember that Tyler was shopping for matching shirts for himself and Henry?”, says Hayley with a look of terror on her face.

“Yeah, so?”

“He got them.” Not sure if her expression was from joy or nausea.

“Great!”

Long pause.

“They’re bad. Really ugly. I’m just warning you because I know how picky you are about how everyone looks when we go out.”

“How bad can they be? Send me a pic when you get home.”

“Oh no.”

I tried to be as nice as possible, saying things that would not be insulting, after all, it really is none of my business…while the rational side of me completely understands this, the other side of me had trouble falling asleep that night, imagining my adorable grandson in that cheesy black shirt…yeah, yeah, I know you think I’m nuts…

The next day I told my daughter, please let me do some online hunting and I will replace these shirts with something nicer. This is what she texted me later that day:

For the first few seconds I was speechless, then could only reply, HANDSOME!!!! THUMBS UP!!! AND I MEANT IT.

While this shirt would certainly not be my choice, it is clearly ‘sparking joy’ for Henry – you can tell from this one simple pic that it makes him feel good.   While I admit being super picky about clothes and outfit choices, I also very much believe that it is important – every day – to love what you are wearing. It affects how you carry yourself, it can even affect interactions with people.

So. The shirts will go on vacation. I will be polite, I will be complimentary, and you can bet we will all have a few good laughs about it.

Thank you Tyler for being such a good sport! You are the best.

Ready for vacation!