"Your kid is kind of weird" These words were spoken to me by a person who, at one point was a friend and now had become an acquaintance. Someone who had known my son for years. Someone who has not been in our lives for a couple years.
My first response was that guttural one. The mama bear protecting her cub and now I am going to have to rip your throat out; or in the civilized world we are in, I am going to verbally eviscerate you until you walk away in a pile of tears. My mouth was open, breath had been drawn and the first wave of lethal words were travelling up my windpipe.. Except something happened. My brain did this weird flip-flop thing that it sometimes does and instead I just said "You think so huh? Guess I am glad I am his mom and not you" I politely excused myself and walked away. No, I did not chicken out. I just realized that any reaction, negative or positive was not worth it and would be lost on such a pitiful person.
My boy is not the cookie cutter, preppy, clean-cut, fall in line child. At one time I tried to get him to go down that path and somewhere around 12 he started traveling down his own path. I fought him tooth and nail on clothes and hair. Music was one thing we agreed on. Certain friends were not.
I finally gave up last school year and have just learned to deal. Your kid may prefer the AE, Hollister, Abercrombie clothing. Mine prefers concert T's and floppy hair, black high-top Converse and a wallet on a chain. Your kid may be on every sports team either willingly or just to please you but mine only wants to play baseball and basketball and if he makes the team so be it, if not, that is fine too. Your kid may be the popular one who everyone knows and buddies around with, mine is the quiet one, the introspective one who thinks the popular kids are mean idiots (he's mostly right on that one) My kid bought a top hat a'la Abraham Lincoln on his class trip to Washington DC and yours probably wears that regulation prep boy baseball cap. My kid is a "weirdo" and I am OK with that.
I realize that my kid is different than most kids his age. He is more mature and can think of ways to entertain himself other than just who he can give a wedgie to, or intimidate and make fun of at school. He is a deep thinker, preferring documentaries on everything from the Holocaust to the history of video games as opposed to nonsense drivel that kids watch nowadays.
He is my throwback kid with a poster of Kurt Cobain and John Lennon in his room and a Sega Genesis gaming system straight out of 1992. He prefers vinyl to CD. He taught himself how to play the guitar and drums and would rather do that than practice his jump shot.
He has a kind heart and no patience for the nonsense that happens in high school. He recently became extremely upset at the fact that some "popular" kids at school thought it would be a funny joke to nominate a kid no one really liked; another weirdo to the freshman homecoming court.
Yeah, my kid is weird, He is quiet and thoughtful, sometimes in his own world and doesn't have the best judgement. He sometimes wears a top hat around town to see what kind of reaction he can get. He is miles ahead of his peers.
My kid is a weirdo and I am just fine with that. I will take my kid over yours any day.
