Monday, August 2, 2010

Teens and Trends

Now that one of my sons is in his teens and the other is getting there, we are getting used to a totally different concept when it comes to their sense of dressing, hair style and a whole lot of things concerned with their personal appearance.

For sometime now, both my sons have started to wear their trousers really low. When I first spotted this, I thought that they probably might have forgotten to pull up their pants properly in their  hurry to get ready for school early in the morning. When I tried pulling up the trouser, I was politely asked by my son that he had worn his pants low deliberately as that was how everyone dressed up these days!

I stared in wonder at the way the pant was defying the law of gravity and staying in its place way below the hips on his thin frame!! Wearing trousers too high they lectured me was just not in. After this whenever we went out they would point out people on the street and that was when I noticed trousers on most of the hips being miraculously balanced. The best was when we had gone to get the new sets of uniforms. I found many parents and children at the apparel shop arguing about how low the trouser / skirt should be worn for it to be the right size. Finally as is the case these days, I found that it was the children who got their way. Lesson number one - the younger generation is besotted with low jeans and my children have just been a part of it.

The next in line was the hair. Getting the boys to go to the barber for a trim has now become an arduous task of  negotiations (almost akin to the Indo-Pak talks). It involves the issue of the length and the amount of hair that needs to be trimmed. Short hair is apparently not the "in" thing. So, it's always a point of view between 'medium' and 'short'. So, we agree that it would be medium in the front and short at the back. And they do not visit a barber during the vacation time. However, they have to get a trim just before school reopens, to stay with in the permissible limits of the school rules.

And then there are these weird hairstyles that both turn up by wetting their hair with water (thank god they do not gel) and styling it into spikes. These styles vary according to the cartoon character which would be the flavor of the season or their favourite football hero. Lesson number two - just pretend they are not with you when people around give stares at the weird style.

The next is the dress that they wear. These days I see that all I need to invest in, are a couple of football jerseys and any time we go out it would be just those three or four jerseys which are worn, be it while going down to play with their friends or going for birthday parties. The height of it is when they come dressed in these jerseys even while attending weddings and other formal occasions. Most of the time the colour they are in is red. As they are right now at a rapidly growing stage, I do not like to buy many t-shirts as they outgrow them rather quickly. But even the few formal / non-jersey shirts that they have are just languishing in the wardrobe. Lesson number three -  I have forgotten what primary and secondary colours and their hues are. The only colour I know is red, red and more red.

Well these oddities are what then  makes teen years so very distinct from all the other years in a child's life I guess. As parents, going along with this tide makes life easier for both parents as well as their teen aged children.Will keep you guys posted with some more lessons that I will be learning along the way. If you can in the meantime enlighten me on some of the other oddities that  I should be aware about, keep me posted well in  advance so that I can plunge into the battlefield well prepared!!

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Next I can think of you need to be prepared.. are Gurlfrens.. last time i checked, they were the "in" thing too.. :) .. might take a while considering he just steeped into his teens... but be prepared.. :D

shobhana shenoy said...

Hey Ananthu,
Thanks.Oops ! Please don't give me jitters even before I am out of these things. Now that you say it I guess what I am going through right now is any day better. I guess let me handle one thing at a time.

Deven said...

So presently how the time is spent? is it infront of TV COmputer, Gameboy, Nintendo, Playstation ya phir they follow the Nestle Milky bar ad.."Dum hain toh bahar nikal" My sis is trying desperately for the second option and its a world war 3...atleast thats what both say :)..i wonder what her neighbours have to say...Maybe nothing different because its the same story in her neighbours..

Paramjit said...

...well for my tween, its close the room, put a loud music, a/c and dance that he says is rap...btw, he's 12 and doesn't want to be disturbed while he is into his dance routine.

RadShan said...

Mobile and constant SMSing... long phone calls - these are the next :)

shobhana shenoy said...

Yes Deven, all these are part of the daily routine in their life. If not anything for this I guess they have loads of time.Thanks for your comment.

shobhana shenoy said...

Hi Paramjit,
I forgot to add that. Music is now an integral part of their life. Infact I am now quite proficient with the flavours of the season of the current and happening singers like Akon, Owl city etc. To tell you I do enjoy these songs.

shobhana shenoy said...

Hi Radshan,
Thanks. Yes next in line I guess would be footing quite horrendous telephone bills I guess:( The list seems to be growing bigger by the day.