<p>Garland,
Your daughter didn’t discover that until college? I’d say that’s the sign of a deprived childhood. ;)</p>
<p>Garland - I have a son with retro hair and cargo pants/shorts. He cut his shoulder length hair to a below the ears shag cut for mother’s day. Hasn’t cut it since. Wears t-shirts all year long. His only requirement is that they not say anything on them. Makes for simple shopping. I am slowly replacing his last years shirts with holes on them with new, intact clothing. My husband has long ago discovered duct tape as a fashion accessory.</p>
<p>So when I got to my august institution with my 3-piece wool worsted and shined pennyloafers, my racist roommate from the fancy prep school had a new pair of pennyloafers, too. He took white masking tape and wound it a dozen times around the front of the shoe. He never did tell me why, and I’d still like to know. So if there is anyone out there…</p>
<p>Crash, jmmom and marite,</p>
<p>Well, I was thinking the shorts and hiking boots for those lovely summer digs, and the tweed jacket w/suede patches for teaching.</p>
<p>But yeah! I’ll take any of the castoffs! I mean, really, I LIVE at thriftshops.</p>
<p>Wish I could get S to wear cargo pants. He prefers super slim levi jeans… make his legs look like blue pencils, I swear.</p>
<p>And, Marite, I hear you about the long showers. I think he falls asleep in there. Can’t wait to see the drop in our water bill in September. But for true savings I’ll have to wait until 15-year-old D leaves home; she takes two showers a day, and they are hardly short.</p>
<p>For the fashion-conscious and/or fashion-challenged: Duct Tape Fashions!!!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.octanecreative.com/ducttape/fashion/fashion5.html[/url]”>http://www.octanecreative.com/ducttape/fashion/fashion5.html</a></p>
<p>For h_thealogian:
I haven’t seen profs wearing shorts (except for my S’s prof) but I’ve seen profs wearing hiking boots. I’ll bet you suburban and rural LACs profs live in them.</p>
<p>Marite,</p>
<p>Muwhuhahahahaha! I’ll probably secretly wear the hiking boots and hide them in my office so the dean will never EVER find them.</p>
<p>One day, I will have the tweed jacket. Maybe I’ll have to order it from England…</p>
<p>This boys and shower thing is fascinating really. Between 8 and 13 you can’t get them in the shower and after 14 you can’t get them out. I couldn’t figure out what S#1 was doing in ther for 30 minutes until a friend filled me in (am I dumb…)</p>
<p>And thankfully, yes, long hair is coming back in for the boys – d instead of looking like Navy plebes they are all beginning to look like dashing Prince Valiants again…</p>
<p>Prince Valiants, YES!! I love the trend to longer hair. My boys have incredible hair, they would have fit in so well when I was their age. (Urk, did I actually just say that?) Neither has cut their hair (except for a trim for the younger) in a year. The older has a big POOF of fluffy soft white-blond curls: he is instantly spottable in any crowd. The younger has the thickest, glossiest <em>straight</em> hair I’ve ever seen, and it’s easily now 6" to 8" below his shoulders. When he tries to pull it into a hair-tie, we don’t have any big enough to go around the clump of hair. I’m thrilled they’ve both decided to let it grow. I just make real sure not to tell them so. ;)</p>
<p>S’ hair chronicle:[ul][<em>]to age 8 - straight, medium blond, the kind you can “bowl cut”; cute [</em>]age 8-17 - buzz cut, easy, not bad; I liked the “retro” element, made him look young (which he doesn’t need) [<em>]age 17 - stopped cutting it, it came in dark brown and curly, *ringlet</em> curly; at first, he tried to comb the top forward to straighten it; when he stopped that silliness and let it do its thing, he looked older, handsome, I loved it. Long enough but not straight enough for Prince Valiant; great hair, great look [<em>]age 18 - He and his band made a “pact” not to cut their hair; announced he wanted it to get below his shoulders, Led Zeppelin-style (not my favorite look, but I don’t count) [</em>] week before graduation - went out and got a buzz cut 
unannounced[/ul] I, er, “suggested” he consider the <em>somewhat</em> long, curly look when he heads off to college as it is his best look imho. Apparently mho doesn’t count for much 
</p>
<p>Sigh, my son is one kid who doesn’t look good in longer hair. He’s tried for three years to grow it out, but it is wavy in the wrong places with strange cowlicks that won’t lie flat or poof out attractively. It frizzes in the coastal fog that we have, and he’s not very good with a hairdryer, which is the only way I can make my own hair work in this climate. He’s making another attempt this summer to grow it out, but it’s not very flattering. He’s also grown his sideburns out longer than what I think looks attractive (but who am I to really say). They’re practically to his chin now. He’d look better with a Tom Cruise in “Tom Gun” haircut than as Prince Valiant, though he wants to look more like the guys in Led Zeppelin, I’m afraid.</p>
<p>So other moms share the affinity for longer hair! I tell all my son’s friends (and son!) that they look great w/the longer hair (maybe taking me back to my own late 70s jr high youth…).</p>
<p>My son also just got a very short (nearly buzz) cut after <em>months</em> of painstakingly growing it out. I always thought the long hair made him look older/more mature—but, as it turns out he was just growing up in those few months–he looks older now in the buzz-ish cut too! </p>
<p>Momof2inca, we share the cowlick thing at our house too…my son, daughter & I have tons of them…it can actually work for boys’ shorter hair–son never has to use gel to get the front to stand up–people are always asking him how he does it, lol.</p>
<p>I love the long hair too. Both S14 and S7 have long hair. </p>
<p>S14 has “fine thin limp” shoulder-length shag. “Limpness” is exaggerated by the strategic placement of a baseball cap on his head immediately after his shower, though said limpness is also hidden by keeping the hat there 24/7.</p>
<p>S7 has awesome hair. It is the most goregous streaky sun-bleached blonde color, texturized to a pseudo-rasta stiffness by chlorinated pools, and it somehow winds up in a sort of longer, cooler Einstein flyaway 'do. My H and I absolutely LOVE his hair. It is best when combed only a couple of times per week. </p>
<p>A teacher once combed it for a class picture (big mistake.) His hair looked like nothing so much as two shingles angling off his head like an A frame. </p>
<p>S14 has just entered a new stylistic phase. All previous summers including last summer he was streaky blonde with caramel tan. This summer he has decided not to be exposed to light nor ever to wear shorts. So now his hair is dark under his permanent trucker cap and he’s an attractive pasty-white, plus he wears mostly black clothes-- a look I call “early American Roadie.”</p>
<p>My oldest does have beautiful hair - but I still like it above the shoulders. Last year, he used my fancy shampoo - I sent him off to college with a complete set of Aveda products. Said he was going to use them for special occasions.</p>
<p>My youngest claims he does actually sleep in the shower. He had me put a clock in there - supposedly so he knows what time it is when he wakes up.</p>
<p>I thought I was the only mom whose S slept in the shower…we made the mistake of putting a shower with a seat in his bathroom when we built the house.
Mine will not cut hair or bushy sideburns(shades of Chester A. Arthur) and does not want to shave. After reading these posts, he sounds normal.
Great book: “Why Do They Act That Way?” by David Walsh. For a brief review, go to <a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002163863_healthteenmoods30.html[/url]”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002163863_healthteenmoods30.html</a></p>
<p>Does anyone here have a Daughter who’s acting, well, different? Attempting to be more independent and instead appearing a bit annoying? Mine has become very secretive. (“No, Mom, I won’t tell you when I can finish registering for my courses with TeleBears. And I won’t tell you which coures I’m going to try to get. It’s MY schedule, and that’s that.” And her dad’s favorite: “G-bye, my friends and I are all going to the beach together. Who’s going and when will I be back? What’s it to ya? Why do you want to know? Why do you act like the Spanish Inquisition every time I leave the house?”) I know it’s a function of getting older, and that she’s trying to be more independent, but I have to fight the impulse to drop-kick her across the room. </p>
<p>She’s also very worried over how to avoid the Freshman 15 (from an athlete with a drop-dead figure). And suddenly a lot more interested in hair, clothes and fashion magazines. We got her a gym membership, and she’s going out for Crew (which she probably won’t make–too small)–but aside from reminding her to stay away from snacks and fries…</p>
<p>My guess is the last part has to do with the possibility of meeting cute boys at college (her HS was very short on cute boys–BOTH of them had girlfriends. So she occupied her time with swim practice, orchestra, and studying. But with thousands of possibilities in her future…)</p>
<p>
susu - we have a DS, not a DD, but this definitely cropped up upon graduation. For some of my friends, it occurred on the 18th birthday. Whichever. As I see it, the kids think they have reached <em>adulthood</em> and don’t need to answer to anyone. In our case, a firm -“we need to know who you’re with and where you’re going; it’s our job” plus a reminder that this is what adults do as a common courtesy to each other was all it took.</p>
<p>THEY need to know we realize they are no longer a child. They also need to know that loving adults spare each other of needless worry - this is where I’ll be and when you can expect me.</p>
<p>susu, we’re catching a little of that already :eek: and mine’s just a rising senior, but the good is outweighing the bad so far. D has really started taking responsibility for herself. Set up her hospital volunteer work herself, drives herself to the hospital every A.M. at 7:15 (a twenty minute drive). Called me at the office “Dad. I got to watch a liver biopsy, and some guy have five bottles of fluid drained from his stomach. I’m so excited.”. I think I may have raised a ghoul.</p>
<p>But she also has the bun and abs workouts going strong and I’m not talking athletic workouts. I’m talking “Toning the Teenage Body” or something like that . God, I hope our girls don’t end up in the same place. The poor boys won’t stand a chance.;)</p>
<p>Everybody on the board told me this would happen , that she would grow-up right before my eyes this year but day-um.This is pretty amazing.</p>
<p>Susu - I know what you mean. My d got her provisional license off and can’t understand why I don’t want her driving home by herself from anywhere at 1AM! She’s sure that my husband is going to call her in her dorm room every night.
I know that even though we are bickering now, I am going to miss her terribly - I have a feeling that my h doesn’t quite realize how different things are going to be around here…</p>
<p>My Ss wrap themselves in their duvets before heading into the shower to turn on the hot water. Then they lay on the floor, ostensibly waiting for the water to heat up but in truth, they are catching extra Zzzzzz time. Sometimes they fall SOUND asleep. In my hallway! It’s like waking the dead.</p>
<p>For us, the pre-college, pre-senior year period is filled with mystery. As parents, we rack our brains to figure out what is really going on. Why do you have to take the phone upstairs to talk to Louis? Why do you always say ‘friends’ when you mean girls, ie “Who are you going out with/talking to/texting?” “Friends”.</p>
<p>Just last week, S2 stopped in at 8 pm on Friday night with an armload of gear and sleeping bags. We asked him to say hello, but he declared he wanted to “Put this stuff away first.” </p>
<p>Alarm bells started ringing for H and I. </p>
<p>Put stuff away? </p>
<p>One of our boys? </p>
<p>Yeah, right.</p>
<p>As soon as he went out again, H snuck up to his room and found a half case of beer–sitting right in the middle of the room like a billboard. We confiscated it and he never mentioned it. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, we are leaving the parking dents on his car because they are a magnet for police pullovers. He’s been pulled over five times in ten months and breathalized three times. So far, so good. No tickets, no warnings.</p>
<p>btw, for those who followed S1’s travels last year–he’s par for the course. Another credit card has gone missing this summer–this time in Beijing.</p>