What're You Looking At?
Several Fridays ago, the whole family went to a new bar and grill in town. At one point a David Bowie song came on and Sam got up next to his chair and started dancing - the great, jerky, slightly awkward dance of the uninhibited 4-year-old.
I envy that - the option for a kid to be 'suddenly silly.' When a grown-up does it you are labeled eccentric or quirky. I dread the day he is too intimidated or embarrassed to dance.
Just last week we were going through his homework and there was a drawing of a chicken (I think). He said Griffin, his friend, had told him it was ugly. I tried to convince him that no, it was not ugly, I thought it was clever how he'd colored it black and yellow and orange. And again I thought how quickly the time comes that someone else's opinion matters.
When Sam was about 2 my sister sent him Mickey Mouse ears from her family's trip to DisneyWorld. Sam loved those ears. If he didn't wear them he wanted someone NEAR him to wear them. So, for quite awhile I wore Mickey Mouse ears as we drove to and from school. And I'll admit, I enjoyed it. It made me laugh. And I thought it was funny to pull up next to someone at a stoplight and just wait for them to turn and look. (Many stick in the muds wouldn't even smile ...)
Sam is pretty much over the Mickey Mouse ears. Sure, if you get them out he wants someone to wear them, but he doesn't have a wobbler if you leave the house without them. And this is what makes me start to understand why parents sometimes do things that embarrass their kids. Because at one time the kids really did think wearing Mickey Mouse ears or sticking a Band-aid on your forehead or crunching Oreos in your teeth and cluelessly asking "What? What? Do I have something in my teeth?" was funny. And you secretly hope they still think it is funny, even though they are 14 (or maybe 8 or 10) and they are visibly embarrassed. Deep down you want them to think 'she may be goofy but she's funny.'
I envy that - the option for a kid to be 'suddenly silly.' When a grown-up does it you are labeled eccentric or quirky. I dread the day he is too intimidated or embarrassed to dance.
Just last week we were going through his homework and there was a drawing of a chicken (I think). He said Griffin, his friend, had told him it was ugly. I tried to convince him that no, it was not ugly, I thought it was clever how he'd colored it black and yellow and orange. And again I thought how quickly the time comes that someone else's opinion matters.
When Sam was about 2 my sister sent him Mickey Mouse ears from her family's trip to DisneyWorld. Sam loved those ears. If he didn't wear them he wanted someone NEAR him to wear them. So, for quite awhile I wore Mickey Mouse ears as we drove to and from school. And I'll admit, I enjoyed it. It made me laugh. And I thought it was funny to pull up next to someone at a stoplight and just wait for them to turn and look. (Many stick in the muds wouldn't even smile ...)
Sam is pretty much over the Mickey Mouse ears. Sure, if you get them out he wants someone to wear them, but he doesn't have a wobbler if you leave the house without them. And this is what makes me start to understand why parents sometimes do things that embarrass their kids. Because at one time the kids really did think wearing Mickey Mouse ears or sticking a Band-aid on your forehead or crunching Oreos in your teeth and cluelessly asking "What? What? Do I have something in my teeth?" was funny. And you secretly hope they still think it is funny, even though they are 14 (or maybe 8 or 10) and they are visibly embarrassed. Deep down you want them to think 'she may be goofy but she's funny.'
But then again, I shouldn't care what other people think. Right?
posted by Romine Family at 3:20 PM
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