Parenting

Good grief, has it really been more than a month since I blogged? I’ll blame it on Xanga… the daily subscription digest e-mail that kept me on track disappeared one day a couple of months ago, and then mysteriously reappeared last week. That happened once before. But it’s hard to be upset with a free service you’ve taken advantage of for months…

Last Friday was Savannah High School homecoming parade. It was a beautiful day. Philip, the sophomore, has had an insane schedule since school started trying to keep up with both marching band and the football team. Because he loves them both so much, we endure the craziness for the season, and then November comes bringing some much appreciated peace and tranquility. (well, sort of!)

Philip would have loved to have ridden on the firetruck with the football team, but instead marched with the band, wearing his football jersey and the black dress slacks and shoes the rest of the band wears. It was a little schizophrenic, but he wasn’t the only one. He looked great as he went by, and I was a proud mama.

A little later the firetrucks went by with the football team, and I was shocked to see a huge number of them had shaved their heads into Mohawks–a solidarity move to show support for the Savannah Savages. Kaiser, Philip’s good buddy, had a Mohawk, but it looked good on him, a Native American. I was so relieved that my son hadn’t participated. He has beautiful hair, which he wears longer than a lot of the guys.

When I talked to Kaiser’s mom later, a good friend, I had to talk her out of being mad at him. “Kids do a lot of crazy things, and it could be so much worse. Hair grows back! Don’t be mad!”

The big game was that night, and it’s always a bummer to lose your Homecoming game, but they did. But it wasn’t for lack of team spirit! That afternoon, a bunch of the rest of the guys acquiesced to the pressure, and after the game, I was shocked by my baby boy’s awful haircut!

And then I had to heed and obey my own sermon–“Don’t be mad at him–it’s just hair. It’ll grow back.” Easier preached than done! The first opportunity he had to “fix it” was Sunday afternoon, when his big brother came over with his clippers. Now he’s a skinhead. I’d cry if there weren’t so many other more emotion-rending circumstances in life. I console myself with the fact that this is a great opportunity to learn that impulsive decisions can have long lasting results.