Silvan wrote in message ...

They're usually pretty eager to have the opportunity to help though.

:-) That's before they hit puberty and discover the price of
skateboards. Tony begged me to let him scrub the toilet when he was
three. He really got off on cleaning, for some reason. Now he wants to
be paid for getting up in the morning.

Black hair. Well, the hair by itself isn't so bad. Depends on whether it
comes with 14 pounds of steel sticking out of his face.

Oh, no... nothing permanently scarring until he has his own home. And
I told him I'd fire him if he ever again came home with Magic Marker
heavy-metal "tattoos" all over his arm. He was surprised to learn that
employers can do that just because they don't like the way one looks.
I dunno what they teach him in school but that lesson seems more
important than Aztec marriage rituals.

I know those goth kids do that stuff just to offend people like me

I don't know all the reasons they do it, but I don't think shock value
is the main reason. Rebellion against the stifling conformity taught
in public school is a major factor. When my high school mandated
neckties, we kids held a competition to wear the ugliest one possible.
I won with a 75/25 blend of pink polyester and blue aluminum mesh.
Then the Powers That Be decreed, "hair must not touch the ears," so I
shaved my head and painted a scarlet A on my pate with mercurochrome.
:-) My kid fiercely defends his individuality (for which trait I
credit/blame myself), so he goes for distinction in everything.

Eye doctor: "Tony, do you have any questions about your first contact
lenses?"

Tony: "Do they come in colors?"

Dad: "What color do you want?" Just playing along out of curiosity.
;-)

Tony: "Brown and blue?"

Dad: "You plan to alternate colors daily?"

Tony: "No. I want one brown eye and one blue eye." Like Marilyn
Manson, not David Bowie.

I hope fashion moves on before my two become teenagers.

It will, and you will regret it. Teenagers have been aggravating their
parents with clothing since zoot suits, which were the 1940s
equivalent of "sagging pants."

Dave Hakala