So on it went. At one point he told me, "By the end of next year I want to be a fully blown transvestite. Okay"..I still kept my composure. I loved my son and would accept him for who he his no matter what that would turn out to be. My friends at work were another matter. They couldn't understand how I could be so calm about it. I have to admit that on the inside I was a little nervous, but he was just following the non-conformist attitudes I had brought him up with, to the extreme perhaps, but that was of my own doing.
The climax of all of this happened months and months after this whole transformation began. One day he was wearing pink parachute pants that he borrowed from his girlfriend and some shirt that didn't match. My husband commented that his nail polish didn't go with his outfit. I chimed in that I had some that might go with it, would he like to try it? He declined and I said, "Well, if you want to dress like a girl, you should learn to coordinate your outfits , or something to that affect. He replied that he did not want to dress like a girl. That did it. I said, "You told me that by the end of next year, you wanted to be a fully blown transvestite! He yelled back, "I was just trying to freak you out and it didn't work! Ha! Yes! Imagine me clenching my fist and pulling in my elbow.
Not that I was glad, per se, that he wasn't a transvestite. I was just glad that I kept my cool while he tried my patience. I really think that the key to dealing with rebellious teenagers is to not sweat the small stuff. That is why I had the hair rule. That is why I didn't care about the make up and the clothes. I guess everyone has to draw their own line to define "small . I am obviously more liberal than some of my friends.
The epilogue to my story is that on graduation day, he was sent home to change because they had a rule against wearing shorts underneath his robes. I told him that he should have changed into a skirt because they didn't have a rule about that!
So, thank you David Bowie. You have no idea how you helped me deal with the trials of teenagers.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
3
3
2
