$$: Bonehead

Ever have one of those day?  Sometimes I feel like bad days are the rule around here, not the exception.

Last night The Son came home and announced that he'd been smacked in the head with a basketball and he thought he'd chipped a tooth.  I poked a finger in his mouth like he was a 2yo and, sure enough, he'd chipped one of his lower bicuspids.  Darn.

So this morning I called our dentist and they fit him in this afternoon.  Naturally, that meant that The Husband had to come home early so I could have a car.  I picked up The Son from basketball practice and fought rush-hour traffic to the dentist's office which was packed to the gills when we got there.  The receptionist announced they were running a bit late.  The Son took the opportunity to take a little cat nap on my shoulder where he was snoring ever so slightly in my ear when they finally called his name.  He was in the chair for all of 5 minutes, max.  The dentist announced that there was nothing to bond to so he'd ground it down so it wouldn't irritate The Son's tongue and called it good (exactly what I'd suspected he'd do; it wasn't a huge chip, but it was plenty rough).  The charge:  $0.00.  Gratis.  Nada.  Zilch.

I didn't complain.

Since I had a car and had no idea of when I'd have one again and since I'd had the forethought to bring along the items I needed to return to T.J.Maxx and since the shopping had originally been done on The Son's behalf, I was a little bit heavy-handed in talking him into being okay with me stopping quickly to return the dress shirt and the t-shirts and see if they had the t-shirts in the correct size.  I also mentioned that I'd look for more boxers in the right size because, surprise! surprise!, he's decided to switch to boxers [thus sparking what will most likely amount to The Great Underwear Hunt of '10 -- for those of you who remember of the Underwear Search of '08 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8].  With any luck at all, this will be a mini version of that epic treasure hunt.

T.J.Maxx -- ($48.40)

• returned Ike Behar dress shirt -- $29.99
• returned Nautica undershirts, size M -- $14.99

T.J.Maxx -- $22.57

And this is where the bonehead title comes in, after I'd lucked out and found a 3-pack of white crewneck Nautica undershirts in size Large, as I made my way to the cashier, a shiny object caught my eye and I, spur-of-the-moment, grabbed a stainless steel coffee mug and had the clerk add it to my purchase.  The Daughter had mentioned wanting one and this one looked perfect.  It wasn't.  It is stainless steel and it does have a no-spill top and a nice handle.  But it's plastic inside.  "buzzer sound indicating wrong answer" Plastic inside is not acceptable.  It needs to be stainless steel inside and out.  I noticed the problem right away, before I even left the store but I felt like a bonehead and felt embarrassed and, thus, decided to return it some other day.  After all, I'm going to have to keep looking for more boxers, right?

• 3-pack of Nautica undershirts -- $14.99
• Stainless Steel travel coffee mug -- $5.99

The problem with the boxers is that The Son would clearly prefer plain boxers.  I knew from the outset that he wouldn't want patterns (after all, a tiger can only change his stripes so much right?).  Switching from a lifetime of tight-y whiteys to boxers was a leap I didn't think he'd take but the additional leap from solids to funky patterns like shamrocks, lipstick kisses, and skulls -- no, he's not going to go there.  The boxers I found the other day aren't solids but they aren't patterns either.  The Joseph Abboud boxers were various, though overall subtle, plaids.  The Tommy shorts were light blue with really small Tommy flag logos -- as close as not-patterned as a pair of Tommy boxers is ever going to get.  So now the challenge becomes can I find him 100% cotton boxers in the right size that are solids?

Now one really doesn't have to look very deeply to see that the apple has fallen right under the tree.  Not only does The Husband prefer solid colored boxers, he really prefers solid white.  He has a couple pair in light blue and a few more in dark blue (both solids) and they are always the last ones to leave the drawer.

So I guess the first place to look in the Underwear Hunt of '10 is Jockey.  Do they still make 100% cotton boxers?  But if I can find some, will The Son like them?  After all, the two pair he's worn so far are cut differently than the Jockey shorts his dad wears.  I just know that if I buy a couple packages online, something will go wrong and he'll reject them.  But it could take me a week of Sundays driving all over town trying to track down solid-colored 100% cotton boxer shorts in size Small.

You know what?  I'm packing it in for the the day and just going to bed.  The boxer shorts dilemma will still be here tomorrow.

Related posts:

1. Day 188: Tide, Tampax, & Cargo Shorts
2. Day 98: Jeans, T-Shirts, & Self-Doubt
3. $$: New Jeans
4. Day 50
5. Day 121: Clothing