Ross Day.

Ross had been bugging me for weeks, asking when we could celebrate 'Ross Day' so I finally decided to celebrate it last week.

I don't think we had celebrated Ross Day since he was 8 or 9 years old.

Ross day actually originated from guilt.

Ross was in kindergarten and I blew a gasket one morning over something (which I can't remember now) that sent me into a hysterical, Mommy Dearest moment.

I spent 8 hours at work that day, scraping plaque of of peoples teeth, replaying my rant over an over and over again in my head until the concept of Ross day was born.

I picked him up from school with a cake that said "Happy Ross Day!", took him to dinner and then to the toy store where he got to pick out something under 20 bucks.  (I was a single-mom so 20 bucks was 20 bucks.)

Ross doesn't even remember me yelling at him that morning...he just remembers Ross day.

I think the next time we celebrated Ross day was a few years later after my ex-husband did something that made him my ex-husband...Ross and I left the house way past his bedtime that night to celebrate an impromptu Ross Day over burgers and milkshakes and a trip to Toys-R-Us.

So I've pretty much just instituted Ross Day whenever I thought it might prevent emotional scarring.

I must not have done anything too emotionally damaging to him in the last 8 years to warrant another Ross Day.

But he wouldn't quite bugging me about it so on Thursday, Ross and Cali and I celebrated Ross day by going to Starbucks, then school clothes shopping at Old Navy and Fred Meyer, then Red Robin for lunch and the mall for some more school clothes shopping.

And it was fun.

He's 17 now but he still insists that I go into the dressing room with him so that I can check the waist on all his pants to make sure they're not too tight.  And he let me and Cali pressure him into buying some shirts that he wouldn't normally wear (he rarely wears anything other than band t-shirts) by telling him how 'hot' he looked in them.  He put his foot down when we tried to talk him into this really cute pastel green t-shirt though. 

And he high-fived me when the cashier at Kohl's told me that I'd saved $60.52 which made all the people in line behind us laugh.

And while we were standing at the register at Pacific Sunwear, it struck me that he's going to be a Senior and I may never take him school clothes shopping again.  So I grabbed him and I hugged him and I told him that I loved him and he kissed me on the forehead just like he always does and told me that he loved me too.

The teenage salesperson who was helping us rolled his eyes and said "Ah, how cute...are you two having a moment?"

Yep, we were.

And a couple of things...

I don't do my own B&W conversion, I typically just use 'Boring Old B&W' from Totally Rad Actions 1, followed up by 'Antique Tone' at about 20% opacity.  The key is having a well exposed shot before you run the actions on them though otherwise the conversion doesn't look all that hot.

And the albums from yesterdays post were from Target.

Comments

[Kelly Koesters]

I love you Karen, you are great. What a cool and cute story!

[kribss]

i'm so jealous- i want a moment too! {with my own son, not ross even if he is a good kid}

[Melissa]

That is such an absolutely cute and wonderful story! I hope my son will still be sweet like that when he's 17....you are obviously a great mom! Thanks for sharing!

[cynthia]

not that i'm wishing out "little boy" days away...but i can only hope that my son is as precious as Ross is, when he is that age!

you're a lucky girl...but you already know that!

[Denise]

That is awesome, Karen! I can only hope my three boys turn out as good as Ross seems. You are one lucky mama!

[Andy]

What a wonderful moment - you made me tear up. I dread my babies growing up. You are a great mom and have raised a great young man!

[jenny]

one of your coolest posts ever. i hope that someday me and my little dude have a 'tucker day' (for whatever reason). glad you had a fabulous ross day.

[Lindsy]

Eh, the salesperson was just jealous. :)

[Jen]

That is awesome -- what a great story! My four year old went shopping at Old Navy with me today and was swinging off the mirror, telling me that I am the "best best best" mom in the whole world, and I grabbed him and kissed him too. If he was willing to still do that at 17, I'd HAVE to grab him and kiss him just like I do now!

[Pam]

I hope when my 13yo gets out of his attitude stage he is just like Ross!

[shari]

I love reading about your relationship with Ross because it really mirrors the one I have with my oldest son, Logan. We are soooo much alike and are really great friends too! I am so blessed that he still comes to me when he needs to talk or when things get rough. I hope he always feels that way and reading about you and Ross gives me hope that this will continue. LOVE all your posts, but this one just has a little something extra! :-)

[Cee]

Karen: Cherish these moments. You would have thought that I DIED when I left for college; it was worse when I moved to AZ, and Mom knew that I wasn't returning home - there were no more "going home for the weekend from grad school" moments. I found her in the living room of my apt. crying.

She was the same way when I bought my home. Then, she knew for sure that I wasn't returning to IN.

[Tanya]

This post made me teary. In all the right ways. I've been lurking and reading daily, but for some reason, today's post, made me respond with a comment. Thank you Karen for this blog, for your amazing photos, and for your beautiful way of sharing who you and your family are. Deep gratitude to and for you from California! :)

[Helen Walsh]

Aww, aww and aww. That's a lovely story and made me feel a bit weepy! Well done you for having a moment in public!

[Lisa B.]

Yep...you're right. Very few shopping days left until adulthood..enjoy them all.

[KateinCleveland]

...awesome example of why I love your blog and your family relationships! You're a great mom even with a Mommy Dearest moment or two thrown in. Good for you!

[Kelli]

That's super sweet! Do the other kids get their own day too?
My 19 yr. old will not wear something if I tell him it's cute, neither will my 13 yr. old daughter. And if I told my son he looked hot, he'd probably not wear it either and then I'd owe him a Shaun day.

[Gretchen]

Loved your post today!!!
It makes me what to have Josh day with my 20 year old son :D

[Jayne]

Enjoy the next year, take a lot of pictures. May will be here before you know it! I know my son's senior year just flew by.

[Jennifer S]

Loved this Karen, and I can totally relate to spoiling my kids occassionally just like that..usually out of guilt and yea maybe emotional scarring too. But my oldest is 7, the thought of Ross being a senior just made me cry. It will go so fast, won't it? Love your blog!

[Lacey]

I just the biggest heart pang (is that what its called? lol) and a frog in my throat- my little brother ( he's 18, i'm almost 33) just graduated HS, and left early to go to college in San Diego (had to learve early bc of the football program)...its only been alittle over a month and i miss him soo much! So yeah, this made me teary. thanks alot! (JK!!) :)

[Alison]

I just love your Ross stories (actually I like all your stories). He sounds so awesome especially for being 17. Clearly, you have done a good Mom job.

[Sandy]

At 25, my son and I still have these kinds of moments. You and I are blessed to have such special mom-son relationships. As my Matt would say, "You gotta worry about a man who doesn't love his mama!!" Ross will be a very good man. . .

[michelle evans]

i have tears streaming down my face. yes its been "that kind of day" but the fact that you have such a good "kid"...at age 17 is amazing. goes to show you have done something right. what a terrific mom/relationship you have.

"So I grabbed him and I hugged him and I told him that I loved him and he kissed me on the forehead just like he always does and told me that he loved me too."

kisses on the forehead to me are the absolute best best best thing. i keep re-reading it. and i keep crying.
how awesome.

[Leigh Ann]

Thanks for posting this, Karen. My middle child is now a teen and my baby is 9--it's good to know there are still sweet moments and fun times to come.
Ross Day--love it! My youngest and I have what he dubbed "Mommy and Blake" days--days when his sisters aren't around and he and I do something together. So cute! Hopefully we'll still have those when he's 17.