Is there anyone out there who still believes that boys and girls are just alike? This pajama party illustrated all the ways they differ. What had been quiet, sweet, special moments with those charming girls became something entirely different with that adorable bunch of boys! The girls had filed into the room, in line, calmly and quietly looked across all the pajamas to pick something special for them. The boys came in clumps, hooping and hollering up the stairs, “Hey! Pajama por me, right? O-kay?” Finally, we gave up on the numbers of kids in the room. At one point, I think there must have been 5 or 6 boys shopping around. They appreciated the pajamas in a different way. For the most part, they all chose much larger sizes than American kids. I guess it was so easy just to get something big you loved and grow into it rather than be worried about it becoming too small too fast.
Of course, with my kindergartners being some of the biggest contributors, we had plenty of nice, smaller-sized things for them to wear. Even so, all the boys (even the biggest) were enamored by a pair of screen-printed teeny-tiny pj’s. “OoooOOOOoo… Mario!” they each said reverently. (Tiffany remembered noticing a Mario game in one of the older boys’ rooms on a shelf. By the way, she noticed it because there were so few toys in their bedrooms – and that had been the only electronic game that we had seen at all.)
Enjoy more sweet stories of our boys with their new pajamas:
Earlier during the Pajama Drive at school… It had been fun to see the huge variety of items that surfaced during the drive. The kindergartners and I would giggle from time to time about all the different types. One pair especially struck me – size 10, boys, red flannel, long-sleeved, plaid pajamas. It reminded me of those sweet family photos for Christmas cards when mothers dress up all their children in pajamas. Some young man had probably indulged his mother one last time for her favorite photograph. When folding and packing those plaid ones, I wondered if a Honduran young man would be drawn to them. I shouldn’t have worried at all. When we laid out the larger size pajamas, most looked more sporty, more cool – tank tops and athletic shorts. Plus that one festive, red flannel, Christmassy-looking suit…
In walked that gang of boys. One quieter older boy looked down the sofa, taking in all the pairs of pajamas. Smiling, he walked – no, he was skipping - right over to those festive pj’s! He zipped into Lawrence’s restroom. We stood outside, eyebrows raised and fingers crossed. The door opened. Out he came – strolling with his head held high straight to the floor-length mirror. The perfect look! The perfect fit! Those Christmas pajamas had found a home – with someone who truly loved them – in Honduras!
Our Christian was the perfect recipient of the Batman pajamas. The sorters from the team had already raved over how cute those pajamas were. Once we met Christian, we couldn’t imagine seeing anyone else in them. Thankfully, he was really the only one the right size to wear them. Seeing him gaze at the cape in the mirror – and realize what it was for… precious! He put his arms straight out in front of him as he zipped up and down through the room. “Da da da da da da da da,” we sang. “Da da da da da da da da… Batman!”
Another older boy just was not sure about all this pajama ruckus. He seemed much more into looking cool. We knew that the little Cars logos and the cuffed pants were not for him. However, we really desired that each child get something new and special – just for them. Despite shaking his head and muttering, “No, no, no” we just knew he really wanted something anyway. (Mothers can tell these things. After all, he kept hanging around with everyone else. Even Osman had picked out some cool shorts and a baseball cap!) We held up each item, questioning with our eyes and over-enthusiastically nodding our heads. Each time, he shook his head, “no.” Somehow, we enticed him to look closely at a pair of USC pajama pants. All the other fellows sat around now, watching him hem and haw… “Oh, those are so cool!” We encouraged. “Yeah, all the guys at home love them.” Mrs. Jennifer countered with, “They just won another national title. They’re the best in the country.”
I don’t know what made him think those were finally okay; but, he did. Then, we faced the challenge of finding him a shirt... A long, thin, white cotton muscle tank shimmered near the bottom of the pile. “Oh, man! The perfect shirt! You will look awesome!” All our heads nodded and we smiled assuringly; he did not look convinced. With a questioning scowl on his face and his shoulders shrugging, he finally dragged himself into the bathroom. There we stood and waited, on pins and needles. He had already turned down every other single thing. “God, give him something special,” we thought.
All of a sudden, that door jerked open and POW! He sprang out into the main room with his long legs flying and his limber arms striking a variety of karate poses in mid-air. “AIIIIE- YAH!” he hollered. Startled – to death, we all exclaimed and laughed. “Oh, you must like those!”
“AIIII – YAH! Ha! Yah! Ah!” Thanks, God. You provided even for this last one – the one who just knew he didn’t want anything at all. And yet he seemed the most excited and the most happy – and he certainly pulled the most moves of anyone all day long!
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| Still karate-chopping as he is leaving with his new pajamas slung over his shoulder! |
