And the answer is...

Skinny jeans! Doesn't matter what the question is, the answer is always skinny jeans.

Apparently, there's nothing a kid today won't do for a pair of skinny jeans. I used to think Mark was a little obsessed about his skinny jeans; he had a black pair that he wore religiously every weekend (both days), and when he outgrew them, I thought he was gonna cry. He insisted they still fit, even though he could no longer button them.

Luckily, he had another pair of blue skinny jeans waiting in the wings. They were still a size too big, but he dug a belt out from under his bed, rolled up the cuffs and proclaimed them perfect.

I recently learned it's not just him. Turns out the entire fourth grade is obsessed -- and we're just talking about the boys.

I realized this the day I picked Mark up in the nurse's office.

"I got a purple mark for behavior today," he told me, proudly.

"Good job!" I answered.

"What does he get for a whole week's worth of purples?" his friend Kyler asked me.

"I dunno," I said. "How about lunch and a movie?"

"I get a pair of skinny jeans," Kyler told me. Mark and his friend Moises gasped out loud -- Kyler's mom instantly became the coolest mom alive.

"If you get a week of purples, I'll buy you a pair of skinny jeans," I promised Mark. Mark immediately turned to Moises with a big smile on his face. Moises had to pull out the big guns.

"My sister has four pair of skinny jeans!" he told me, holding up five fingers. He named each color jeans she had.

Mark couldn't believe somebody was so lucky.

"Four pair," he said, shaking his head as we walked out of the office. "I would have to be good for..." he started counting up fingers, then eventually gave up. "Forever!"

I agreed. And while skinny jeans are not my favorite look, I think a new pair a week would be a small price to pay for good behavior.

Even better, they'd be an awesome carrot to dangle over his head when he was not behaving. I could totally imagine myself threatening, "One more call from the prinicpal, and I'm taking those skinny jeans away!" And I know that Mark would immediately jump back into line so as not to lose his beloved couture.

Hmm. Maybe I need to go shopping tomorrow...