7.30.2006

Will I ever understand?

There are some things that I will never understand. I have resigned myself to that fact. Right up near the top of this list are boys. Teen@ge boys. --I had to avoid that pesky go0gle search.

We just returned home from a fun trip to Bear Lake. We had so much fun playing in the waves, boating, tubing and just sitting around. This was a family trip. To clarify my family a little bit more, I am the oldest of 32 grandkids (is it any different now Grandma?). My sister that is two years younger and I are the old ones of the group. After her it was five years before there were anymore grandkids. Once they started coming though, it just rained and rained babies for quite some time.

Now all of a sudden they are all growing up. A few are married, two just had babies DOUBLING the number of great-grandbabies (mine have been the only two), many of the rest of them are high school/college age and many of them now have boyfriend/girlfriend relationships.

This brings me to the subject of my blog. As we were unpacking our tents I caught a sight out of the corner of my eye that startled me. For a minute I thought it was Bigfoot dressed in a purple shirt. After my initial shock I realized that it was a boyfriend of a cousin. Upon further inspection I realized that he was wearing tighter than tight dark-washed jeans, possibly girl jeans...I know that is "cool" these days. Is it even cool to say "cool" anymore? Sorry, I digress. Back to the story. Above these jeans were his brown boxer shorts ballooning out. He was wearing a thick belt with silver rivets and a tight purple t-shirt that he had to keep pulling down. Then, the reason that I thought he was a member of the Bigfoot family...his hair. He had even length, dark brown, curly hair that came past his chin. On the top of his mop was a black hat so tight that his hair on the bottom was puffing out in every direction.

My aunts riled him. They talked about how when he is thirty he is going to look back and see how he looked and wonder what in the world he was thinking. I laughed at that thought and remember how goofy my husband dressed even when we were dating. I look at my little brother and his love of "vintage" thrift store shirts and ties. I think of every boy/man I have known and EVERY ONE OF THEM has had dressing issues. I wonder why that is? Is it actual marriage that makes boys finally dress like men? Is it having a wife that puts her foot down when it is the year 2004 when her husband comes dressed to go on a date in his striped denim shorts (think the last season of "Saved by the B3ll" or "9o2l0") and his big-man shirt? Or is it plain ol' time that makes them dress the way their mamma's always wanted them to dress? When do they decide that a good ol' GQ cut makes them look like a man? Hmmmmm. I will have to think on this some more.

To illustrate my point I tried to snap a picture of this teen, but it is hard to get a picture that late at night and be sneaky about it. Here is my best attempt.



Lest you think I'm a sexist, I have issues with teenage girls and the way they dress too, but that will be another day.


***Quick note to above commentary. Socks worn with sandals? Give me a break!!!

26 comments:

Super Happy Girl said...

Is it actual marriage that makes boys finally dress like men?
-I believe it is us, the women-folk, who turn wild beasts into men.
Sorry men, it is the truth and ya'll know it, might be the desire to impress us, but it all turns out to the benefit of mankind.

I've told DH that I'm going to make signs that read "My wife did not want me to wear this outside, but I wouldn't listen to her".

I wish you had a picture of the dude, it would have been great :)

Anonymous said...

LOL! Your brother and my brother must be kindred spirits. His mission president actually warned him that he better not see any of those ties around after my brother headed home. He soooo wanted to buy a banana yellow leisure suit he found at an antique store before his mission, but he knew he needed to "sacrifice" it in order to save for his mission. On the plus side when he went to college he was happy to take the hideously ugly dishes that someone "gifted" me with when I moved out.

So need to see the picture though!

Andrew McAllister said...

You might be interested in another article about teenage boys, girls, dating and all points between, entitled Big Bad Dad.

Char @ Crap I've Made said...

I totally know what striped shorts you're talking about.

When BC and I got married---and this was 1996---he only owned one pair of jeans in actual denim. The rest were all colored. Oh how I wish I was making that up!

Kelli said...

I really don't like the falling down pants with the boxer shorts ballooning over them style! Hopefully it won't be cool soon!!
Thank you for visiting my home on the home tour!

Kelli

Dawnyel said...

I HATE the new "styles" of clothing! I know that if I were that age again I'd feel differently, but what's so cute about showing off your underwear!? I don't get it. I never really enjoyed seeing boxers when I was a teen, but now they're EVERYWHERE!! And girls' fashion...ugh!! Don't even get me started!!
Your husband actually dresses properly!? Hmm....guess I'm just not pushy enough....

Michelle Fluttering Butterflies said...

Socks with sandals?! Nonononononono!

Lana said...

can't wait to see your covert photo op!

was camping fun?

Dawn said...

Thanks for stopping by my house! It has been such fun seeing where everyone lives. When I go to the student center for lunch at the large university where I work, I sometimes almost lose my appetite. The things they wear!! I look forward to winter when I don't have to see everyone's belly buttons (thanks, Brittany!). I think high school boys are worse than college, but I really don't like butt cracks on guys either! And I hate seeing their underwear. I keep hoping the tide will change. I intend to try to read further down - I enjoy what I've read so far. Stop back by!

Chrissy said...

Ok, but my friends and I thought the Flashdance togs and the early stylings of Madonna were cool...doesn't everyone (excepting the lucky folks who were teens in the 50's) have a cringing moment when recalling our teen fashions? :-) My son is sporting the 70's shaggy hair, so I am lol with you!

Your house is beautiful, btw! I wanted to do this, but never got the kitchen 'photo ready'. ;-)C

Blackeyedsue said...

Yeah, we aren't terribly impressed with him either.

Tori :) said...

Yeah. My husband and I can just sit in the mall looking at teenage kids and make comments like, "If Isabel ever brings a kid like that home I'm going to laugh and say 'You're joking, right?" Or, "If Isabel ever tries to leave the house in an outfit like that..." It's crazy!

Mel said...

Hilarious!

Beck said...

My husband has always been natty, but most men have dressing issues. Your cousin? So much less scary than my teenage brother, who had (until last week) long curly hair TO HIS WAIST. Yeesh.

Valarie said...

how can he possibly think that's a good idea?

as for my husband? a much better dresser under my influence

Mall Worker said...

Yikes! He does kinda look like bigfoot! I can't stand socks with Sandles. Boo's daddy tried to leave the house like that once and I asked him if he was going to be "that guy". He then promptly put shoes on instead!

momofalltrades said...

He totally looks like bigfoot! Haven't you seen those pictures on Discovery Channel?! The pose is 100% accurate! Having been the "owner" of a couple of those creatures myself here recently, I can tell you that they smell and act as bad as they look. Even the nice ones. I'm praying for some nice little girls to come along and beat them over the head with the grow up stick.

Super Happy Girl said...

OH MY!!!!

WHAT?!!! HA HA HA, oh man, that pic is SOOOO much better than I ever thought possible. Thank you, Thank you a thousand times...now I have to wipe the mascara from my cheeks. You also owe me a new keyboard, since I spilled pineappple juice all over myself.

I'd also like to thank teh internets for making this moment possible.

Anonymous said...

Do the pants sit just below his cheeks? That can't be comfy at the belt-buckle area.

My dh won't let me shop for clothes for him, or even iron his shirts for him (which is just fine with me). I seem to have the fashion problem in our relationship. I love it when he buys clothes for me.

Blackeyedsue said...

Kara, my J still doesn't care about clothes. I buy them for him. He has strict requirements. Nothing too trendy, same fit of jeans and shirts that breathe, no funky washes or tears on his jeans. Do you know how long it took me to convince him that he wasn't an x-large, but that he was really a medium? I am just glad he doesn't dress the way he did in high school, he at least dresses in "normal" clothes. By-the-way, I think we came across a picture of Jamie, J, and Nate in overalls with one side down. I laughed and laughed. They all had "the wave" hair too. Classic.

When Jamie was dating Neleh, they took J shopping. That was the only time he has ever dressed "cool". I am glad Jamie and Nate are still his friends, even though he is the dork of the group.

If I had my way, he would be shopping with Jamie at LEAST once a month.

It'll never happen.

Millie said...

What a hottie. I'd be after him so fast, it's a good thing I wasn't at your family thing. Someone would have caught us making out in the bushes. ;)

Karla said...

Sometimes I feel like shouting out, "Hey! I see your underwear!" But of course they already are aware of that, so they'd probably just laugh and make fun of me. Maybe I should yell out, "Hey! I see your butt crack!"

emlouisa said...

My husband wore a trench coat and fedora in high school. Also, when we were dating he wore a bright YELLOW turtleneck, usually with a green cordoroy button-down shirt and brown cordoroy pants. NO LIE.

The yellow turtleneck got "lost" after our honeymoon.

Shawna said...

Oh, that's funny. Ya gotta wonder...

Kelli said...

First of all, love love love Big Bear. Learned to ski at Snow Summit- but I digress.

That photo is just toooo funny. It looks like every sasquatch photo ever made.

Nettie said...

Oh my gosh! That must be every teenage girl's parents worst nightmare.

I have to say it is all those piercings that really get to me. I can't imagine anyone going through life and not regretting having installed several large metal studs in their face. Soooo sexy!