Everybody has some wacky in them. And to be clear, I mean “the green beans can’t touch the chicken” wacky. Especially me. I have many, many nutty rules and concepts. My wacky is gorgeously multi-faceted: I can’t handle silverware rubbing against each other, I act like a four year-old if someone’s late to an appointment, I keep bags of candy under my pillow, wet hands freak me out, etc. Fortunately, I’m not alone. Everyone has some form of wacky. My daughter, for example, took a pair of her jeans and cut off one leg, to have half-pants and half-shorts. Wacky. And she wore ‘em to school. Very wacky. But I didn’t stop her. I supported her, 100%. I waited by the phone as she left for school, sure that they were going to call me, but no call came. Instead, she created a little fashion news, and that was that. It really cemented something for me - accept the wacky like you accept breathing. It’s part of life.
And that’s my point. To get you to realize that you and your kids each have some wacky. The next time you start to look at your kid cross-eyed because they’re afraid of dust bunnies, remind yourself that you can’t stand the sound of an electric can-opener.
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[tags]parenting, kids, different, weird, wacky, same, unique, individual style, self expression[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by Ben McLeod, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved
5 responses so far ↓
Barb // May 21, 2007 at 9:03 am
I love that your daughter is so confident in her personal style that she wore her half-pants/half/shorts to school!!!
Do you think “wacky” can be handed down? I can’t stand to wear wet clothes, and it seems that all three of my kids have inherited this same thing.
Megin Hatch // May 21, 2007 at 10:38 am
Funny thing- What your daughter did to her pants I did to my hair when I was a freshman. To this day it’s the best haircut I’ve had. I keep wondering if, at 35, I can pull it off now.
You gotta love wacky.
Stu Mark // May 21, 2007 at 10:50 am
See, I really do love wacky. For me, it breaks up the monotony of a middle-class existence. I think you need to think about that haircut, Megin, it’s gotta be pulled off with the right clothes. If you have the wardrobe and accessories for it, I say cut away! As William Fontaine de la Tour Dauterive says, “It will grow back.”
As for my daughter’s fashion sense, thanks for the compliment, Barb. I am positive that wacky gets handed down, just like other things, like a taste for hazelnuts or a love of the smell of asphalt or pine trees.
Barb // May 21, 2007 at 11:24 am
I’m handing down the taste for hazelnuts to my kids, too, Stu. You’d be envious… we’ve had Nutella Gelato two nights in a row! YUMMM!!
tanyetta // May 21, 2007 at 12:59 pm
perfect.
and ohhh so true.
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