A few months ago, the crazy fashion world dipped their toe into social media land to see if viewers would name the male romper friend or foe. A few entrepreneurial guys wanted to start a fashion revolution through their new brand “ROMPHIM.” They set up a Kickstarter campaign with the attempt at raising $10,000 to make their first run of rompers and you all, IT WENT VIRAL!!!
All over social media people shared these pictures, from GQ and Equire, to any platform you can imagine. They smashed their original goal of $10,000 and people pledged $354,804. They sold out in less than a week. Can you even imagine? Their lives forever changed by a crazy idea.
I really thought it was all a joke and maybe those frat guys were wearing their rompers in jest, but now that I see the numbers, it doesn’t even matter.
It was about that time that our son signed up for his summer class and I shared this commentary below on my Facebook page.
Trust me, you’ll want to read the whole thing because the end is the best part.
Raising adult kids is SO MUCH FUN!!! We have a blast in real life and in our family text group. When miles separate us, it keeps the bonding alive.
June 29, the day of our #2 son’s 22 birthday. (Read the original comments and reactions here.) And yes, I think we need to bring back HOME EC for everyone!!
“There are times when a mom has to share her amusing moments and I know you’ll all appreciate this.
Our rising senior in college (our 300 pound football player ) has to stay all summer for workouts/summer school.
Since he has nearly finished all his required classes, there were only two choices for him during June term. One was a super hard class he didn’t need and the other was a Drama/costumes class, so being a well rounded kid, he embraced the arts. He had no idea what the class was about, but thought it sounded interesting.
After the first day of class he left me a message to call him and proceeded to tell me it’s pretty much a sewing class and his required “text book” purchase was his own personal sewing machine.
Envision this HUGE kid with the fattest fingers ever threading that bobbin like a beast. This month has been so fun as he sends pictures through in our family group chat. He named his own “designer clothing line” and can chat stitches like it’s his job.
I AM DYING!! And now I am measuring our bedroom windows because he assures me he can whip me up some curtains in no time. 
🙂
He has a ton of projects completed and his final exam is sewing his own outfit.
Liberal arts education for the win!! Go Furman! hahahaha
For your viewing pleasure and proof. This makes me so happy and I can’t stop chuckling. I’ll post the final project when it’s done. :)”
That’s the end of the FB post and now for the update.
Our family has had such fun laughing along with (and at) our special guy. He’s kept us updated with pictures along with all his sewing projects. My mom, the sewer in my family, is in heaven because her grandson has been calling her to chat all things stitches and fabric. hahaha
He tried to keep his final project a secret from his class because he wanted the big reveal to be dramatic.
YOU GUYS!!! HE SEWED HIS OWN MALE ROMPER!! All by himself!! With tons of details.
We haven’t been able to stop laughing and the fact he is having so much fun with it makes it even better.
The night before it was due, he sent us pictures at 2:00 am as he added belt loops for a touch of style. Tears streamed down my face with delight from the fact that this 300 pound guy was pulling an all nighter for his “sewing exam.” How great is that visual?
Then he sent a quick pic of the final project from his classroom, but I told him, “NO WAY. I want a full model shoot.” Obviously, I was teasing, but oh, he made his momma (and the rest of the fam) so happy when he sent these because we can’t stop laughing.
Since most of you don’t know him, understand this is SO NOT HIM, which makes it all the better. He could care less about trends and styles. You pretty much only find him wearing athletic clothes 24/7, so I love that he’s owning this.
(He was too embarrassed to have someone else take these so he did them with his apple watch timer.)
The irony is that our eldest son, the one with the whole crazy snake, Hedge fund internship story – (read about it here if you haven’t), recently took a job with VF Corp, a leading clothing manufacturer. (They own Lee, Wrangler, Timberland, Nautical, Vans, North Face and so many more brands.)
So now our sewing football player examines all the clothes from VF to determine quality control and he also thought it appropriate to name his new clothing label “KekoMateo” (Mateo was his Spanish class name) in case his older brother wants to acquire it. 😉 It’s been a fun month in our house and yes, I still want him to sew my curtains.
The icing on the cake? Yesterday, he received his romper back from the professor , so last night he decided to wear it downtown. I’ll really need to interview him live on my Instagram story because I can’t do the story justice in an attempted retelling, but needless to say, he confirmed that he has a starring role on every girls’ snapchat story in Greenville. (It may have taken the crowd a bit to warm up to the romper, but once they did, it was a hit.) Girls wanted to know where he bought it and you can imagine their reactions when they found out he made it himself. (He does now own a clothing label. ha) *No, he didn’t want their numbers. #fashiondesigner
Then this morning, he visited the Juvenile Detention center. I can think of no better role model/mentor for these guys than someone who is so humble with all his gifting, yet confident enough to wear a crazy male romper that he sewed himself and encourage them, “Don’t worry about what other people think. You don’t have to conform to the ways of the world or fit into someone else’s societal mold. Learn to be comfortable in your own skin.”
Matthew knows who he is in Christ and is confident in who God has made him to be. He shines that for everyone around, yes, even through his sewing class. I can’t wait to see what he does during his last year of college/football. I sure hope we have more stories for you on that topic. (And I can’t wait to get the update on what the kids at the center thought of his mad sewing skills.)
Raising kids is so hard and exhausting, but trust me, sweet mommas, it’s worth the effort to invest all you have. Put the time and energy in now so you have no real regrets because we are having such a great time with our “adult” kids.
P.S. I wish he could have gone from $10,000 to $300,000 in a week. 🙂 From fashion to the field. There’s got to be something there.
Now I’m back to editing my book, so ignore any typos above. No time to edit. It’s like I’m back to my good ole blogging days. My favorite. 🙂
Feel free to browse my Mentor Mom posts. We all need to know we’re not in this alone.
This is AWESOME!!!!!! Lol!!!! Love his sense of humor and mad sewing skills!! I have a 16 year old son that makes me laugh that way too. 🙂
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Jen Reply:
July 13th, 2017 at 2:47 pm
@Deidre, It makes all those hard parenting moments so much more enjoyable, right?
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I love this more than I should! You are my role model in a thousand different ways!! Thank you for sharing your beauty and bedlam with us!!
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Jen Reply:
July 13th, 2017 at 2:47 pm
@Kim, Oh Kim – you are so sweet, but trust me, I LOVE IT SO MUCH TOO. I just can’t stop laughing!! He’s the best!
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Hilarious! ? And awesome!! He is totally owning that romper & that’s what sells it! ??
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Jen Reply:
July 13th, 2017 at 6:50 pm
I know, right? Oh gosh. I can’t stop laughing. 🙂
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That is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. I don’t know Matthew but I love him! That’s my kind of kid. We need a million more just like him.
Thanks for sharing Mom. Can’t wait to see your new window threads.
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Jen Reply:
July 13th, 2017 at 10:11 pm
Isn’t’ that so funny, Cindy. Maybe he can come and work for you if football and finance don’t work out? I’m sure you need some more guys that can sew. haha
Hope you are doing well. 🙂
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This is totally awesome. I am loving his romper. Thanks for sharing.
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I can hear you laughing Jen! This is SO fun! He did an excellent job and it looks like he has really
enjoyed the detailed work of creating his very denim Romper! GO MATTHEW!! He could hear his Mama’s voice cheering him on!! A+ all the way around!! I’m smiling and laughing too!!
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Jen Reply:
July 14th, 2017 at 10:19 am
Let’s pretend we’re laughing together. Can’t you imagine him and Vandy chatting up all the sewing stories? Mare, it’s been hysterical. hahaha
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Jen,
This is so hilarious. I immediately posted to my FB and then commented to my friend who is a Furman alum and a young friend from church who is a rising senior at Furman. Didn’t want them to miss it. So my friend Emily posted to her Furman friends and this just may go viral. I’m impressed that Matthew took the class seriously. The cost of the sewing machine must have been a surprise! Love your blog!
Thanks,
Carol
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Jen Reply:
July 14th, 2017 at 10:19 am
So fun that you have friends at Furman and yes, he did take it seriously, which made it more fun to hear him talk about it. The teacher is amazing in that she bought a bunch of sewing machines on Black Friday and sold them to the kids for that price so honestly, it’s less than some of the crazy expensive text books they have to buy. So thoughtful of her. Thanks for your comment. Fun, small world if they know each other. He didn’t know I was going to post all those pictures to my blog. He thought only one on FB, so now that I’ve surprised him with it, I’ve asked forgiveness. hahaha He was a great sport (and has to be to wear that downtown.)
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This is great! Thank you so much for investing in your children! As a Mama of three girls it is so encouraging to see stories about young men choosing to live out their God-given identities, rather than allowing this world’s trends to dictate who they think they are.
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Jen Reply:
July 14th, 2017 at 2:01 pm
you are so welcome!! It’s so fun!! I would be remise to imply he’s always made great choices. He had “the year,” but God is so faithful and the way he chases after Jesus now is a joy to watch unfold.
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This is the best story. I’m so impressed that your son learned to sew and could actually wear something he made. I still have never learned to sew and I’m 64. My daughter blames me – rightly so, I guess – because she can’t sew.
I still remember when y’all came to VA Tech to see Furman play football. Maybe that was his freshman year. You were sad your homemade cookies were stolen. I still feel bad about that.
Thanks so much for sharing this story.
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Jen Reply:
July 17th, 2017 at 8:55 am
I can’t really sew either and never thought I’d ask our son to teach me. ha So fun that you remember the story about the cookies. Yes, time is flying!!
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Jen Reply:
July 20th, 2017 at 7:47 am
oh yes, those cookies. I had totally forgotten about that, but that was such a bummer. Hope you’re doing well. 🙂
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This is the best thing I have seen all week! I’m beyond impressed that he did such a fantastic job creating and sewing this, and the fact that he is wearing the heck out of it makes it even better. Love it!
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Jen, thanks for sharing this…it was a fun blog…especially since I know your “men”! Matthew did a great job. I sew a little and I’d never try some of the details he put on his male romper!
Hope you are all good!
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Jen Reply:
July 20th, 2017 at 7:46 am
Thanks so much, Jill. Fun to hear from you. Isn’t that crazy? We can’t stop laughing not just because of the romper but also because you’re right, he put so many details in and went above and beyond. Too funny.
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O.M.G.!!! He is one awesome, self-assured young man, and I doubt he will ever regret learning how to sew. I’ve never been a big one for “girl” skills and “boy” skills. Everything you can add to your toolkit is one for the win column. (Also, what’s his number? I’ve got a daughter (less than half his weight and nearly his height) who would find such a fun-loving personality just up her alley. LOL.)
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Jen Reply:
July 28th, 2017 at 10:11 am
RIght? I’m continuously looking for the perfect person to set our kids up with? haha
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Jen… oh my goodness!!! I have not read any blog posts in a long time. But for lunch today, for some reason, I decided to open up Feedly and enjoy a little brain candy. AND NOW I KNOW WHY. This brought me so much joy!!! I have always loved reading your posts and this was the cherry on top for sure!
My daughter is going away to college for the first time at the end of the month so it was also a wonderful reminder of why (and how) we let them go away so they can just keep building on their wonderfulness!
Thanks for sharing. And thank Matthew for being Matthew and allowing you to share a little piece of him with us! You have done an amazing job as a mom and you’re an inspiration.
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Jen Reply:
August 3rd, 2017 at 8:51 pm
So glad you got the chance to read it. It still makes me crack up when I think about it. 🙂 and all the feelings about your daughter leaving. It’s so hard, but so good at the same time. We need a moms’ support group for this next step.
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