On Saturday morning I took Ezra to get a haircut at a barbershop that is a chain and caters just to men. He called it the "Big Boy Place," we walked right in without an appointment and they have tvs at each station thereby ensuring my son goes into The Mouthbreather Zone and sits perfectly still. The stylists were very sweet and kind and even changed his tv from sports to cartoons; Nick Jr., no less.
The walls are decorated with the requisite man-friendly Three Stooges and Jimi Hendrix and monster trucks and Joe Namath and about a bazillion other things that males (and females) are keen on and want to stare at while getting their neck hair trimmed. There were also girls in bikinis, Porky's, Carmen Electra bent over a car and Maxim covers.
Ezra misses nothing and while he didn't say "boo" about the hypersexual images surrounding him (being super tuned into the cartoons on the television is more than likely why), I am not okay with those posters looking down on him.
I had a pit in my gut the entire time he got his hair cut--not so much worried that he'd announce seeing some lady's biscuits, but rather more because I feel that he does not need to see those things. He is little and innocent and needs to remain unconcerned with how women and men choose to portray their sexuality. I wanted to clap my hand over his eyes. I am no Puritan, but Ezra will have plenty of time for adult-things when he is an adult; he is still a toddler.
The pit in my gut was strong enough that I don't think I'll be able to take him back there as a small person. I need more time to think about how I am going to teach him to respect his body and respect a woman's body. I need more time to think about how T and I are going to break this down for him at each age he inquires about sex and all that it entails. More time to figure out how to explain the pressures of this-and-that and how to be strong enough to choose what is right. I'm not prepared quite yet and I don't need Audrina Patridge on Maxim jumping the gun on me.
I need more time--for my son to remain little and for me to grapple with answers to tough questions.
9 comments:
Oh dear I can't even let my brain go there because it gets all snarly and confused about what to do and when to do it and how to say it...see, confused. I want my babies to stay babies as long as possible.
This is an interesting post. I was thinking about this -- kinda sorta -- last night because we finished reading the third Harry Potter to The Boy. He knows there are other books and wants to read them all. But the fourth book is where there's a little bit of a love interest. I know it's a childish one, but still, I'm not sure I want him to even know that kissing is a possibility. Which is silly because, hello! he sees us kiss. Obviously, Harry Potter thinking of kissing Cho Chang is a lot more innocent than Maxim spreads, but it made me understand now why my dad didn't want me to ever date.
Oh goodness, I can't even imagine trying to keep little boys and little girls as little boys and girls in this day and age. Gaaah, it makes me squeamish to think about.
xox
Unihibited and funny, Mom is still my role model.
too bad she wasn't here to correct my spelling!
Yes yes yes.
I dig the place by the alleged PF Chang's... it's a kid place. No nudey ladies. The woman who cut B's hair always called me "sweetie" and that really drove me up a wall, but I was willing to trade that for a kiddo friendly atmosphere.
Who'd have thought they'd make it that kind of a manly place? Have you tried Snip-Its by Celebration? Geared directly to kids.
I can't say I blame you. I probably wouldn't go back either.
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