A recent conversation made me think the eternal battle between parents and children is always going to be hair-and-makeup. I cannot count the number of mothers I heard as a youngster stopping their children at the door and barring exit, crying "You can't go out like that!"
The majority of the time, it was generally one of two commands:
For daughters it was usually "Go wash that makeup off your face, young lady!"
For sons, it was generally "You need a haircut, young man!"
By the time I had children, things had not changed all that much. I watched the same scenario play out with my children's friends over and over again. Sometimes the players would change, as when a "concerned" bystander will stop the mother of a long-haired young boy and insist, "He needs a haircut!" - but the game was still the same.
By the time these kids reached their older teen years, it was often an all-out war in the home. "It's MY hair!" "It is MY face!"
Just to keep life interesting, the fashion industry came up with wild and wacky colors to dye human hair, as well as "product" to spike human hair into geometric and creative shapes; hair cutting techniques to carve words, phrases and symbols into the hair; and an entire gamut of new battles were born.
I opted out of this battle with my kids.
Because, as teens have pointed out on a regular basis since the beginning of time, it **is** their hair. If they wanted to cut it an inch short and dye it purple...fine. I did, however, point out that I will not be seen in public with them if they choose to do something that drastic. While I do know some teens that prefer to **not** be seen in public with their family anyway, mine always enjoyed going out to dinner with the family. What can I say? We like to eat in my house.
The makeup battle was even easier for me to opt out from, as I am possibly the only person in history that ever had the makeup battle in reverse with my mother as a teen. "You can't possibly go out like that - you forgot to put on makeup!"
The majority of the time, it was generally one of two commands:
For daughters it was usually "Go wash that makeup off your face, young lady!"
For sons, it was generally "You need a haircut, young man!"
By the time I had children, things had not changed all that much. I watched the same scenario play out with my children's friends over and over again. Sometimes the players would change, as when a "concerned" bystander will stop the mother of a long-haired young boy and insist, "He needs a haircut!" - but the game was still the same.
By the time these kids reached their older teen years, it was often an all-out war in the home. "It's MY hair!" "It is MY face!"
Just to keep life interesting, the fashion industry came up with wild and wacky colors to dye human hair, as well as "product" to spike human hair into geometric and creative shapes; hair cutting techniques to carve words, phrases and symbols into the hair; and an entire gamut of new battles were born.
I opted out of this battle with my kids.
Because, as teens have pointed out on a regular basis since the beginning of time, it **is** their hair. If they wanted to cut it an inch short and dye it purple...fine. I did, however, point out that I will not be seen in public with them if they choose to do something that drastic. While I do know some teens that prefer to **not** be seen in public with their family anyway, mine always enjoyed going out to dinner with the family. What can I say? We like to eat in my house.
The makeup battle was even easier for me to opt out from, as I am possibly the only person in history that ever had the makeup battle in reverse with my mother as a teen. "You can't possibly go out like that - you forgot to put on makeup!"