<p>A group of them went with him to get it done, then back to his house to spike it. (Ick!) She showed us a picture on his facebook page with a close of up his spiked head, with her in the background looking disgusted. We’ll see if the relationship can survive!</p>
<p>missypie, at least hair grows!</p>
<p>A mohawk? Way back when guys in my HS used to “bet” other students $1 that they would get a mohawk. Then they would do it and collect. Typically this would net them a few hundred dollars. Kind of creative fund-raising.</p>
<p>I had to laugh at S1’s email this morning. His boss told him he had big plans for him since he is so open minded so wants him to “travel a lot to learn other cultures…blah, blah, blah, same stuff Mom says.” S literally wrote the blah, blah, blah. I’m glad some of what I’ve taught him is paying off. One always wonders.</p>
<p>Missy – the good news is that hair grows back, and thus the mohawk, skinhead, or peace-symbol shaving isn’t necessarily a problem for too long, unlike tattoos, weird facial piercings, … (My father went on a rant about boys and long hair in 70’s - “How can they hear?” he’d say. So my favorite picture of him was given to me by my uncle – dad was featuring the highly outrageous “jell roll flip” hairdo from the 50’s.)</p>
<p>couldnt he convert the mohawk into a buzz cut? a bit more acceptable, and summer like.
Shawbridge it is refreshing, because she is just 16 and kids have so much pressure to know what they want , who they want to be, and to plan for that. she sounds like she is grounded.
My H went to Europe biking for a summer, best experience of his life, he was with two friends and they ran into some shady people but handled it.</p>
<p>D2 buzzes BF’s hair all the time. She thinks it is funny. One time the two of them cut his brother’s hair in a mullet. Then they cut the mullet and left a “rat tail”. Goofy and harmless.</p>
<p>Finally dropped 10 pounds! Was very hard but I’m sticking with it!</p>
<p>D is hoping the mohawk turns into a buzz cut real soon. Of course, I don’t think that will be flattering either…he’s sort of a skinny kid and I think a buzzcut on him would scream “skinhead.” I’ve spent some time on the Gore Separating After 40 Years of Marriage thread…in contrast, it’s kind of nice for my D to be at the stage of her life where if she wants to dump someone over a haircut, she can.</p>
<p>Way to go on the weight loss, NM! </p>
<p>I was thinking about your daughter’s comments, Shawbridge. When I was 16 I had no idea where I would be in 15 to 20 years. I think I saw myself as a teacher or something along those lines but had no real ideas. Like your D, I knew what i enjoyed in school but had no real practical ideas as to how to translate an interest in history into a paid career (still don’t, for that matter). </p>
<p>It does seem we ask kids to focus in specific areas sooner rather than later. I think that is what D was feeling when she was thinking of switching out of engineering. More time to think of what she wanted to be when she grew up.</p>
<p>I’m suffering from Out of School Envy. The last kid just finished school for the year. I do like it when there’s no homework to nag about (except summer school). Hopefully the older D will be less stressed and thus less of a “witch.” But it’s profundly irritating for the four of them to be at home all day, then I come home to a messy house and everyone wonders what’s for dinner!</p>
<p>I want to lay on a raft in my pool with an adult beverage nearby.</p>
<p>My standard retort: “What did you make?”</p>
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<p>I say that all the time.
“Is there any tea?” “Did you make any tea?”
“Is there any dessert?” “Did you make any dessert?”</p>
<p>The problem is that H is such a horrible cook (if you can call dragging out the same leftovers for three weeks straight being a cook) that I feel sorry for the kids.</p>
<p>How about a cooking class for the kids? I’m realizing that’s something D would have really benefitted from. I am taking today off from work and actually doing some cooking…but I’m taking a fair amount of it to her apartment. Along with instructions as to how to prepare said food. I think she knows how to make macaroni and cheese (from a box) and sandwiches. I think that’s it. Or so she would have me believe.</p>
<p>One summer I told them that they were each responsible for one dinner a week. One D actually did it and she at least can make mac and cheese from the box, etc. If I was home and H was at work, you can be certain that they’d all be drug into the kitchen to learn a few basic things. </p>
<p>But I’d rather them know nothing than be taught by H who thinks that the food safety rules were made up by my mother and me as a reason to waste food. “Just cut off the mold.” “Those hot dogs [that have been in the fridge - opened - for 2 months] are just fine to eat.” He also does things like putting the cooked meat on the same plate as the raw meat…when he barbeques, I have to sneak out and switch plates.</p>
<p>missypie - I think you should go lay on a raft in your pool with an adult beverage. I bet they’d be shocked into getting something together for dinner. It always amazes me how self-sufficient they are if I suddenly am out for dinner with a friend (very rarely, but it does happen sometimes!) or late coming home for some reason.</p>
<p>Shake it up - they’ll survive.</p>
<p>It happens and it’s not pretty. Left to their own devices, the younger one opens a can of chicken noodle soup and the two with cars think of a reason to leave the house, whereupon they buy fast food. I’ve got to come up with a list of things they can make themselves easily. I do keep a supply of ziplock bags in the frezer with 3-4 chicken strips in each, but my high IQ kids have yet to figure out that one can take those from freezer to dinner in less than 10 minutes.</p>
<p>I suggest having each child be responsible for a dinner a week. I’d also gently point out that people with cars can drive to grocery stores to purchase food to cook.</p>
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<p>Amazing isn’t it - no trouble at all to drive to the drive through, but way too much trouble to go to the grocery store across the street from the drive through. The Pie Family needs to change its ways!!!</p>
<p>missypie, if you have Trader Joe’s nearby, their chicken burritos are decent food (I think) and can be made in the microwave. ShawSon also cooks Costco hamburgers on Trader Joe’s whole wheat buns.</p>
<p>Though, we returned from reunions weekend to a spotless kitchen. ShawSon had used all of the pre-made marinara sauce and so cut up and sauteed tomatoes, spicy paprika, mushrooms, chicken sausages, oregano, … as a sauce and then cooked Costco spinach and cheese raviolis and poured the sauce on top. It tasted good. And then, shock of all shocks, he cleaned up again – he’d left the place spotless after the last meal he cooked. Pre-frontal cortex coming in and the pressure of school work gone. Nice.</p>
<p>One of the best things that happened to our family was that both girls took “Culinary Arts” as their 6th course senior year, which expanded our menus greatly (“Mom, we have to make this!”) and taught them both to cook. D1 has since become something of a foodie; and D2 can cook when she wants to. When Dad “cooks” we usually get “round food” (= pizza) and other take out.</p>