Smarty pants!

I do not remember having fussed about what i was made to wear all through my childhood...ever. I think most of it had to do with the reason that there was not much of options to choose from. But, it worked.
Mom used to stitch most of our clothes till we were about five, and then readymades took over. There was never a question of us( me and sis) deciding what we wear..well, till i was maybe 11 or 12.
I was wondering how much changes in a generation....for the last two weeks, i have been fighting with V everyday when i get him dressed for school. The reason..he will wear only trousers/ jeans to school. Not the shorts, not the half pants, not the collared shirts, nothing but jeans, pants and T shirts.
When did 3 1/2 year olds get fashion conscious????
For the first few days, i gave and let him wear what he wanted. Then i picked up a nice set of halfpants and a matching shirt two days ago , and he just refused to wear it, i walked out, Valiamma intervened and finally got him to wear it.
Today again, i picked up another set, and he just refused to wear it. I tried asking him why? he just said no! Then i told him he can go to school if he wears this set, or he can stay at home.......he acted like he was going to cry, so i told him to go ahead and finish crying , and told him i was leaving in five mins and he can leave with me if he gets dressed by then.
This has become a daily routine...just when i thought i has conquered the " eat your breakfast quickly" fight, this one had to show up.
What is with kids these days...its like they seem to have an opinion about everything! I absolutely detest these fights...considering that only 25% of V's wardrobe is Jeans and pants, i see a lot more of these fights coming our way.
So should i relent, give in, let him wear what he wants? and let him feel he can get away with what he does? We are not that kind of parents..i stick to my guns , and resolve to impose military rule from today when it comes to dressing...I resolve, leave home, brood about being nasty to V and feel like an absolute defeat of a mother by the time i reach office at 9.36 AM.

At 10.02 AM, i overhear my next cubicle colleague( mother of age 7 & 4- boys) talk to another collague( mother of age 12- girl!) about kids and clothes. I jump out of my seat, butt into the conversation without any invitation(colleagues- thank you for letting my butt in), and pour my heart out on the above topic. I am prompltly reassured by both of them that it will only get worse, and that i should keep my resolve on to make sure things don't worsen any further.

I thank god for giving me an office filled 95% with women( so much of timely advice), heave a sigh of relief( still wondering why? it is going to get worse anyway!), feel one with world motherhood and get back to work.