Little boys on formal nights???

[savs]

I have 2 young boys (5&3) and was wondering what kind of things do liitle boys wear on these nights? We have dress shirts and ties for them with dress pants. Do they need to have a jacket on?

**Girls are so much easier...stick a cute dress on them and they are ready to go

Also we noticed on one menu posted that one night they may have Lobster tails. Do they allow little children to eat that also? My 5 yr old loves lobster and would think that was great to be able to order that.

Thanks,

 

[abitjaded]

Anyone who has ever had to price a little boy's suit, and see it out-grown in two months, would not fault you in the least. There were lots of boys in nice pants and shirts, even sans ties.

Kids may order from the adult menu.

Carla

 

[kajohn]

Nice button up shirts and dress pants or the shirt/vest combo are fine for the little ones. That is what most of the boys wore.

However, we did go with the coat and tie for our boys 5, 7 and 9. It was the first time the two youngest had ever worn a coat and tie, and they looked adorable! The 5 year old especially liked looking like daddy! I got navy blue sport coats at Penny's on clearance and they wore them with Khaki school pants (Penny's catalog in the uniform section).

It is a great opportunity for pictures, I got the best picture I have ever had of the three boys together that night by one of the ship photographers!

 

[thedisneymom]

When my son was little I purchased a set at an inexpensive dept. store. It came with a shirt, pants, vest. and a bow tie. He wore it to a wedding and looked cute as well as dressy. Maybe this would work for your children.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

My 6 year old just love to wear a suit. I found a jacket (no pants) on ebay for $10. Then later found a double breasted suit with pants for $20.

I think that your boys will look great without the jacket - but there are inexpensive options to get a suit jacket if you want to.

 

[mobetsy]

And would my ds#2, who will be just short of 6 when we go, be rudely mis-dressed in nice shorts and a collared shirt? He really hates the feel of fabric on his legs and he gets hot easily; in the last 1.5 years, I don't think he has worn long pants more than 3 times. On vacation just doesn't feel to me like a time when it's worth the battle it might take to get him into long pants. His big brother, who will be 9, will be in shirt and tie w/o complaint, so our best hope is he'll want to imitate him!

 

[rundogrun]

If you want to go the formal route, kids tuxes on eBay are very inexpensive. There are a number of retailers who list new ones there.

 

[savs]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I'm going out to the mall tonight and check out what they all have there.

The good news is my boys go to a private school so they already have the dress pants and shirt (plus ties for those special occasions) so all I need to find is a jacket or vest and we should be good to go.

It will make a good family picture to have them all dressed up in their formal attire.

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[lotsofboys]

My three boys wore oxford shirts (Old Navy online $12.50 each) ties from Mervyns ($6 for the 5yr old, 9 yr olds had them from previous dress occassion) and black dress pants one night and khaki the other. And we alternated the dress pants each night except Tropical night of course where they could wear shorts. I personally felt somewhat uncomfortable that they didn't have jackets on and would definitely never let them wear shorts on a formal night. I agree with kajohn, it was THE BEST picture we have ever had. All three plus DH had french blue shirts for one formal picture and all 4 had white for the other.

 

[mobetsy]

Anyone else on the appropriateness or not of a not quite 6 y.o. in nice shorts and button shirt on formal night? I'm thinking maybe we could go for the British little boy look, with shorts, shirt, light sweater vest and tie. This isn't a case of his just sort of not liking long pants; he detests them and is very uncomfortable in them. We'll try prepping him in advance, but if one of us is going to have to eat elsewhere with him on formal night so as to maintain the atmosphere for others, I'd rather have that in mind in advance too.

 

[mmouse37]

I think a 6 year old would be fine with what you mentioned. By wearing the shirt, tie, and vest he is showing that he cares enough to dress up. It the pants issue is going to be a battle, go with your plan....he should be fine.

MJ

 

[thedisneymom]

I agree! Comfort for him will mean peace for you. After all he's only six. Go for the dressy shorts thing and enjoy.

 

[abitjaded]

My guys had nice pants in black that zipped into shorts, an option. Probably once a balking boy sees the other kids dress up he'll be O.K. I can remember "issues" with each of mine at Halloween when they would not wear costumes they had chosen, we hauled the costumes to the school, party, whatever, and once they saw the other kids dressed up, they wanted to put on their costumes. My older son, now 9, is very picky and did not want to dress up, said he'd feel silly, but was glad to once he saw the rest of us dressed up. Would not wear dress shoes on formal night but he would wear his black sandals and black socks and he really looked just fine. You could also try taking sons shopping, you know, a date, lunch at Red Robin and pick out something they like (scope the choices in advance and lead them). And if any boy (or husband) won't do any of the things we (women) have suggested, well, he IS JUST a little kid (husbands included) and being able to put your foot down about how you dress is a major accomplishment for him and unimportant to the adults (wives and moms) in the long run.

Carla

 

[PAGirl]

What about using a second hand consignment store? They often have items used once and outgrown! I plan on checking them out. But my struggle is that I'd like to coordinate with DH so all three boys look a bit unified....but DH is a procrasitinator and cannot make up his mind on colors! AAGGHHH!!!

 

[disneybets]

My boys did not spend much time in the dinning room. They would deat and leave. They can order from the adult menu or the children's menu. We had a 6:00 sitting and they were usually not very hungry since they were eating (grazing is a better word) all afternoon up at the lido deck. They wore polo shirts or tropicle print shirts. Most kids I saw were wearing tropicle shirts and docker type pants on the formal night. Some people did not know about the formal and semi formal night and were dressed casually every night including cargo shorts. By the end of the week my older son refused to wear anything but shorts and a tee shirt and refused to take his baseball hat off at the restaurant. One night he and I had a tug-of-war with the hat. Our waiter told me to leave him alone it is not worth it. 12 year old boys can be difficult.

 

[imgoingtodisney]

DS11 will be wearing pants, shirt & tie and black sneakers.
I bought him shoes for his 1st communion years ago and after 1 wearing they went to the Salvation Army.

 

[rae519]

I have my son wear the suit he wears to Church on Sundays. Very nice and very appropriate for both occassions.

Rae

 

[cotomom]

I bought a tux for my 3 yo ds for our first cruise. Guess what I forgot though? SHOES! So, he's all decked out in this great black tux, and his black water shoes with the bright blue racing stripe!

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

refused to take his baseball hat off at the restaurant.

My son is 9. If he EVER refused to remove a hat in a restaurant, he wouldn't make it to age 12!

They would deat and leave.

I'm always amazed at those "deat" and runners...

 

[rae519]

There is nothing worse than a parent who refuses or is too IGNORANT to teach his/her child the social graces of polite society.
Glad to know you are making the effort to raise a son that you can be proud of!

Rae