Sifoddling Along

By Marilyn Carnell

Some Assembly Required

 

 

 

 Throughout life getting dressed for the day comes in stages of difficulty. Babies require little thought about wardrobe planning. At least all of the parts function. On a hot summer day, a diaper will suffice. On cool days a gown or “Onesy” plus a blanket is added.

 Preschoolers like to dictate their choices and drive their Moms nuts with odd combinations like flowers with plaids as they learn to assert their own points of view and increasing independence.

 Once in school it is simple again. Dress like everyone else of your gender. In my day, that meant black and white saddle shoes and if possible, a poodle skirt with crinolines to fluff it up.

College gear varies with the school chosen – it maybe mirroring other students or choosing all black goth attire to visually say, “I am different – I suffer for my art” or some hoped for message of angst.

In the working years there are new choices – reflect the norm, or to hopefully dress like those above on the career ladder.

Retirees seem to dress for comfort and ease of assembly.

Old age brings new issues. Clothing must be easily donned, but more importantly, we come  to realize we have become more and more like an IKEA kit with a missing Allen wrench  – some  assembly is required before we can even consider clothing. Glasses are now familiar, compression stockings are common, hearing aids are almost inevitable and in many cases dentures are essential. 

These extra steps to prepare for daily life don’t happen overnight, but it is a shock to realize we have become bionic creatures that have missing functional parts that require connection to make the whole thing work.

This issue appears in the ezine in the blog www.pencilstubs.net at Google Blogger with the capability of adding comments at the latter.