"Mom, can we get a wii?"
"I don't know, Sammy..." I was distracted, and not really focusing on framing any arguments against the gimmes.
"But everyone else has a wii!"
"Well, Sammy, Mommy and Daddy don't like being like everyone else. Haven't you figured out we're weird?"
Wait. What has happened to me?
It's not that I'm against video game systems. It's not that I don't want to give my kids things. It's just... did I really say I don't want to fit in? Is weird my new cool?
Growing up, I chaffed against being "different." Home-schooled. Big family. Hand-me-down clothes. Tour-bus-sized family vans. I inwardly cheered when my parents bought a minivan. Mind you, I was an adult and SUVs had stepped past minivans in coolness, but after a childhood transported in vehicles of enormous proportions, a minivan was a giant leap for this family.
I love my parents and never told them that I hated feeling like a geek. I believe they knew it anyway. Their decisions on our family's lifestyle choices weren't driven by what would make their children happy, but what they felt would make their children better. Looking back, with the eyes of a parent, I think my mom and dad had it right. At least, I hope they did, because I am OK with being different.
At least, I hope I'm OK with it.
Sammy will probably get a wii eventually. And I don't wear my older sisters' hand-me-downs anymore. (And really, I still think it was OK for me to hate wearing them as a child. They are so much older than me, the styles were all wrong.)
And exactly what is a "wii eventually"?
ReplyDeletei really like this post....you are very good at letting people in...i don't know if that communicates, but it's a very appealing aspect of your writing...love you!
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a wii either. Let's be weird together! :)
ReplyDeleteCharlie said your last sentence should have a semi-colon in there.
ReplyDelete...and I like your blogging posts.
the last sentance should be: "They are so much older than I, thus the styles were all wrong."
ReplyDelete