Ear Piercing and Skirt Mistakes

The boy and I ventured out on a Saturday morning which is not something we normally do. We are not morning people. But today was a big day because I finally agreed to let the boy pierce his ears. He's been asking to have them pierced since kindergarten but I always said no. Today I finally said yes. He was all giddy anticipation on the ride to the mall and delighted in looking at the different earrings he could choose from. Not a hard decision since you only get 4 choices but it was like some kind of magic to the boy.

 

He picked black squares and I think they look really good on him. He said they didn't hurt but after a couple of hours of errands he started complaining and then said "Oh well, beauty is pain." lol. 

The skirt mistake was all my fault. I feel terrible about it. There is no creature more easy to embarrass than a teenage boy. Add to that a divergent gender identity and public shopping can be difficult. There was a TARDIS (From Doctor Who if you're not familiar) skirt at Hot Topic that the boy was dying for. Naturally he needed to try it on to get the size right so when the lovely sales girl asked if we needed anything I said he was interested in this skirt. He looked mortified. I didn't know that my fairly soft voice would at that moment sound like a bullhorn to him. Poor boy.. He did try on the skirts but refused to buy any. I let it go and let him pick out some shirts and accessories. He later told me he did want the skirt but could we buy that kind of thing online from now on. No problem kiddo. I still feel terrible for embarrassing him but who knew. We're still learning as we go. 

One of his favorite purchases was this really soft and silky Doctor Who shirt. I picked out the Dauntless necklace for him and when we left the store I explained to him why. If you haven't read the Divergent book series you should. This symbol is from that book. Dauntless is a faction in a dystopian society and they are fearless risk takers.

When I gave him the necklace I told him that even though he is Divergent, it's okay to be Dauntless too. And I mentally reminded myself that sometimes I will have to be Dauntless for him when he can't be for himself. This growing up stuff is hard.