The slouched shoulders and the shape of the head looked rather familiar. What I didn't recognize were the clothes and the hair! This person sitting before me had jelled spiked hair sticking straight up in the air. Not only that, the hair was PINK! Before I could speak, "it" spoke to me and I nearly fainted because the voice belonged to my son! I slowly moved around the table to get a closer look, clutching my cup of steaming hot coffee.
When I was standing directly in front of the teenager I could see that this was, indeed, my son. I think. My son was wearing a black t-shirt with statements about rock 'n roll and being a roadie. My son was wearing black skinny jeans with purposeful rips and metal safety pins. My son’s hair was not dark brown any longer but was now spiked straight up with black roots and PINK tips! The person sitting at the kitchen table, pouring himself a bowl of cereal, was my son who apparently went through some sort of transformation during the night that changed him from a preppie-type boy to a rocker teen! (Note to self: watch teenager more closely).
I always considered myself lucky in that my son never strayed from his regular faded jeans and polo shirt or plain t-shirt. To me, this was the epitome of normal. I felt comfortable in the knowledge of who that boy was inside that safe, familiar outfit. So can you imagine what was going on inside my head staring at this face I’ve loved for 15 years with a body dressed in this outfit? I felt cheated, I panicked. I felt I had lost my son which was impossible since he was here just last night! Right?
I watched him suspiciously while he sat chewing large bites of his cereal while looking at the screen on his lap top computer. He looked perfectly content as if everything was exactly the same as it was last night. Words would not come out of my mouth, I could not think of anything to say. I felt if I said the wrong thing, this outfit would pick up my son and walk him right out the door, never to be seen again! So I opted to say nothing and then it happened: he spoke. He grinned, he asked me for his lunch money before kissing me on the cheek and heading out the door to high school. I smiled and said, "Have a great day". His voice sounded the same. His smile was the same. He hollered back to me that he was meeting some friends after school for band auditions and, “See you later, Mom!”
I stammered, “Okay”. I took a big gulp of my coffee.
“Wow!” I thought out loud. My son went to bed a preppie and woke up a rock star!
Teen personalities…An ever-evolving mind-melding adventure...www.myurbanteen.com
