Tom's embarrassing socks

Tom's mum puts money on the table in the morning, "When you take tom to school can you buy him 2 new pairs of socks? He doesn't have any now"
"Yep that's fine."

Later Tom comes down, "Did my mum give you money for socks?"
"Yep."
"Okay, I'll just put on some other socks for now." Tom goes and gets ready for school.
Later I call, "Okay Tom let's go."
"Ohh it's embarrassing wearing the wrong socks!"
"Why?"
"It just is."
"Well we'll buy new ones as soon as we get to school. Now come on."
Tom comes to the garage and sees me putting Charly in the pram, "Aren't we driving?"
"No, we're walking. Your mum took the car today so I can't drive."
"Ohhh!" Tom stamps his feet and starts to cry, "But everyone's going to look and see my socks and that's embarrassing!"
"No one's going to look, Tom."
"Yes they are!"
"No...people don't usually look at other people's socks. Now let's go."
"Ohh why can't you drive?"
"Because I don't have the car."
"Why can't you just buy one?!"
I smiled, "I can't buy one now!"
"Well why can't you buy one on the weekend?"
"Because I don't have money to. They're expensive."
"Oh but I don't want to walk!"
"Well we have no other choice," I walk out the door, "Now let's go, we're running late."
Tom slowly and reluctantly walks out the door.

We start down the road.
Tom groans, "Ohh but it's so embarrrasssing! And everyone's gonna look and they're gonna laugh."
"No one's going to notice, Tom, and they wouldn't laugh at you for having the wrong socks."
"Yes they would."
"I don't think so."
"Ohhh," Tom continues to groan, "And there's some annoying people that I don't want to see if we walk!"
"What makes them annoying?"
"They are just annoying and they push us around."
"Well if we see them I'll make sure they don't do that."
"No you won't."
"Yes I will."
"They are so so so so so so so so so so so so so (continued on for 20 more times)..."
"mean?" I asked
"....so so so so so so so so so so annoying."

Silence.

"Everyone's gonna look at me and that's so embarrassing! People will look when they drive past in their cars."
I sighed, "Tom, people can't see your socks from their car windows!"
"Yes they can."
"No they can't, they can't see that well. Anyway you're walking on the other side of the pram so they can't see."
"What if I walk out in front, then they can see," Tom walks faster and looks at the car and starts pointing, "They looked. They looked. They looked. People can see my socks."
"Tom, when you are driving and people are walking on the footpath, it is normal for them to look. But they are looking at the person, not their socks!"
"No they're looking at my socks," Tom was becoming extremely sure of himself.
"No, they're not."
"Yes they are."
"Tom, you're getting worried because you THINK they are looking at you. You think everyone is looking at your socks, but I can promise you they are not."
"Yes they are."
"Tom, people don't even know what socks your meant to wear anyway! It doesn't matter to them. Most people driving in these cars would not go to your school so they wouldn't know."
"That person does," Tom pointed to a car, "And he looked."

Another silence as I walk out in front thinking what on earth kid....

"Tom, if I was you, I wouldn't worry about it."
"Well if I was me, which I am, I WOULD worry about it."

A girl in a highschool uniform comes down the path toward us. Tom looks up, "She's gonna look and that's embarrassing!"
"Tom, she is in highschool! She doesn't know what socks your meant to wear."
Silence as we walk past the girl who stares at the ground and does not glance our way in the slightest.
"See," i said after a while, "She didn't look."
"Yes she did."
"No she didn't."
"Yes she did."
I realize there is no point in arguing. I cannot change his mind.
I point to an interesting tree, "Hey, look at those tree roots!"
"Oh that's soo interesting," Tom says sarcastically.
"Tom," I said firmly, "That's rude, do not talk like that."
"Jack talks like that to me."
"I know and I don't want him to. It's rude."

Tom looks up as we get closer to school and groans, "Ohh there are more and more people! This is soo embarrassing!"
"Well," I said, "I don't think you're embarrassing. I think you're pretty cool."
"You're just saying that."
"No, I mean it."
"No you're just saying that because you don't want me to be sad."
"No I don't want you to be sad but I mean it, how would you know anyway? You're not me and you can't read my mind."
"Yes I can,"
"Tom, no one can read anyone else's minds. I can't read your mind and you can't read mine."
"You can't read my mind," said Tom, "But I can read yours."
I shook my head and walked ahead, "This is getting rediculous."

Tom picks something off a plant and says, "I'm gonna throw this at you."
I turned around and said firmly, "Why would you want to do that?"
"because."
"Because why?"
"Because."
"I want to know why."
Silence.
"Are you mad at me?" I ask (what a guess!)
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you didn't drive. And..."
"And what?"
"I'm mad at my parents because they took the car."
"Okay," I said slowly, wondering how on earth I would get anything across to him, "You realize Tom that it was your parents who took the car. Not me. So this is not my fault that we couldn't drive. I had no choice but to walk you to school. So it doesn't make any sense for you to get mad at me about this."

Silence.

"If you forgot the money for my socks then I will be very very very mad and I will cry and cry and cry. And I am NOT going through the school before I put them on."
"Well I didn't forget the money because it's right here in the pram."

We walk into school and find out where to buy socks. The teacher directs me. It involves walking through the school.
"Do I have to come?"
"Not if you don't want to. You can sit here and wait for me to come back."
Tom ends up standing miserably at the school gate while I go buy socks. Finally I come back and he takes them and walks to the bathroom to change.