<p>Ok- so maybe I am trying to redefine “middle age”.</p>
<p>I took my 17 year old to get her nose pierced this past weekend, it has been something that she has wanted for a long time, although she doesn’t bug me about it. But as she just turned 17, I reasoned that this was something that I could do with her- as opposed to her turning 18, and going by herself.( or doing it herself- see other posts!)</p>
<p>So daughter would be irritated if I had waited all this time and then went and got my nose pierced as soon as she did- I know, I know, so what, but I would be irritated too.</p>
<p>Still I am feeling like I want to do something to “rebel”.</p>
<p>I don’t want a sports car- I don’t want to cut my hair, I don’t want to wear odd clothes.</p>
<p>Summer seems like a good time to get it out of my system- its summer isnt’ it? almost?</p>
<p>I knew already that D has high pain tolerance- as getting pierced reminded me because although they use a needle and no numbing agent- D didn’t make a single noise during the procedure.
I don’t even think her eyes watered.</p>
<p>Tattoos seem more painful, especially depending on area involved.</p>
<p>I already have an extra hole- which is good for using those earrings you don’t have mates for any longer-
I did find some magnetic body jewelry ( even belly rings) and some temporary tattoos.
I think that will satisfy my need to shake things up a bit for a while</p>
<p>( it isn’t just the people my age I want to startle, it is the 19 year olds who think that people in their 50s- are ancient ;))</p>
<p>I’d be interested in suggestions here, too - not that I personally have any interest in putting additional holes of any kind in my body (let alone driving pieces of metal through them afterwards) but I’d welcome any suggestion to offer my kids. Isn’t there any way to be “rebellious” that isn’t, well, really, really dumb? Or is that sort of a part of the definition of “rebel”?</p>
<p>I once saw one of those bariatric surgery shows where the woman’s sweet rose tattoo, which she got when she was thin, grew into something almost hideous 150 pounds later.</p>
<p>I have heard tattoos don’t do well with weight gain, breast drooping, etcetc. Teenagers won’t think of that, of course, but the worst tattoo legacy comes with age (I hear…I’m scared of tattoos and extra piercings, besides my hole in each ear).</p>
<p>I’m partial to the wild hair dyes…blond with thin blue streaks was the last one my d did. Easily changed.</p>
<p>One of her friends would do elaborate pen drawings on the other kids. Usually he would make it appear that the skin was ripped open and show the tendons, bones etc. It was very realistic, stopped others dead in their tracks and got lots of attention :)</p>
<p>You guys could bring back the Magnum PI mustache.</p>
<p>Well…let’s see - you can put a random braid or two in your hair, or take a small section of it on one side, and dye it purple, pink, blue, or green (you can hide it or bury it under other hair for business situations - or not); young men can grow their hair long, ponytail it…</p>
<p>Toe rings are sort of fun, and, if you’re in reasonable shape, arm jewelry is fun, if there’s an evening event and you’re in formal dress; also, tiaras are fun…</p>
<p>Nail polish experiments can be interesting…</p>
<p>But rebelling doesn’t have to be physical - there are all sorts of free or inexpensive, fun, interesting and even humorous ways to rebel that don’t involve decorating or changing your physical appearance, and you get the same satisfaction, or close to it, anyway…</p>
ding! ding! ding! We have a winner! No permanent damage, “rebellion” is the only rational (?) explanation for having one, and you could have a variety of styles for different occasion (what kind of tiara goes with “business casual”, anyway?)</p>
<p>rotfl @ Kluge, it probably won’t go over so well at, say, the chamber of commerce luncheon, or the partners meeting at your law firm. And it really won’t work with Elvis sideburns either I suspect, though I’m dying laughing sitting here imagining it! It’s better at, say, a black tie event, and you’re wearing an evening gown, and if you have long, thick hair. In your case I’m guessing that merely wearing an evening gown would be rebellious enough; you can probably just skip the tiara part, as well as any other accessories, such as the perfect purse and the high heel shoes. </p>
<p>It would probably still look very goofy though, if you wore it and you also had braces and bi- or tri focules.</p>
<p>But seriously, you can rebel quite distinctively without doing one single thing to your appearance. Doubleplay has something there with the skydiving experience - I was leaving a business meeting, it was January or thereabouts, and there’s a place outside of Pentagon City where there’s an iceskating rink. In the middle of the business day, I said the heck with it, the business meeting had gone nowhere useful, and I just didn’t want to do any more work, so, I went ice skating. And made my business appointment - who had walked over with me - skate as well. I do NOT know how to ice skate, er, at least not very well. We had a great time. I made NO money and I accomplished NOTHING in terms of my objectives for that day. 50 email and 20 voicemail piled up, ingored, while I skated. I decided not to care, just for one afternoon. It was great.</p>
<p>LOL, I have always wanted to go trick-r-treating, say, in August, instead of the long wait for end of October. Just for fun - dress up in a traditional costume, say a witch, ghost or something, and go door to door saying 'trick-r-treat". Just to see how people would react, what they would do, or say. But, I haven’t been successful yet convincing ANY of my friends to go with me. I’ve been trying for years, and they all just say “NO”. No explanation given, they won’t even consider it, just, “NO”. I think it would be hilariously funny, but, no one else will go, and I don’t want to go by myself.</p>
<p>I guess a safer, less risky way for them to rebel might be to go around the house and take all the “do not remove” tags off their mattresses…</p>