I'd hesitate to call my son a "mama's boy," however he does love his mom.
And for good reason. I do too. Can't say I blame him.
But some of this has gone too far and I've put a stop to it.
Like many women, my wife wears headbands, to hold her hair out of her face. Most guys don't have long hair and thus headbands serve no purpose to them.
In my son's ongoing quest to do things that his mom or I do, he's taken to wanting to wear his mom's headband. He has his own computer that he likes to bang on if one of us using the computer. He likes to take the remote while the TV is on. He always wants a bite of whatever we're eating--or drinking (especially coffee!).
The cell phone is his favorite. If we leave it within reach, he will inevitably find it, open it and attempt to dial.
So far he's called my voicemail. My wife fears that he will somehow manage to call her boss. It's like juvenile drunk-dialing.
But the headband thing is crossing the line for me. I'm comfortable with my manhood and whatever my son becomes is what he becomes. However, I can't help but think about Ernest Hemingway as a young child. His mother dressed him up like a girl. And while he became a great American author...the dude had issues.
I'm not implying that a headband is the first step towards a cross-dressing two-year-old, but I felt I needed to cut this habit off before it became too serious.
Sure, he does look cute with the thing on his head. It's hard to explain, but to me, he looks like some sort of robot and I find robots incredibly cool. I do think it's kind of funny, but we can't have him going into pre-school wearing women's headbands.
So the logical solution is find something that dad wears so we can attempt to replace this habit. Well, he already wears lots of hoodies and cool shoes. He sports the Falcons' jersey on Sundays. I can't make the kid look more like me than he already does.
So I have to add an accessory to my own repertoire. And the sweatband has been introduced.
Long a staple in competitive sports where the competitor sweats. It's a stylish, yet functional device that keeps hair and sweat out of one's eyes.
So to the sports store we go. I was hoping he'd pick black, but when faced with a decision between red, black, and white, he went with red.
So now at home throughout the course of the day, you'll find me sporting a red sweatband. If I'm wearing it, there's a good chance my son is as well. He seems to like it and it seems, thus far, to be a sound substitute for the female headband.
I must admit, we look like a couple of tennis pros sitting around relaxing. At first glance, you'd probably expect us to break out into a pick-up game of basketball at any given moment. He's not quite ready for that, but the sweatband does help when wrestling. Ever the goon, I pull it down over his eyes so he can't see as I proceed to put him in the cross-face chicken wing.
I am concerned, however, about when I'm not at home. Which band does my wife wear: sweat or hair? If I'm not here, does she support the conversion or is she content to let him dress like a girl?
And for good reason. I do too. Can't say I blame him.
But some of this has gone too far and I've put a stop to it.
Like many women, my wife wears headbands, to hold her hair out of her face. Most guys don't have long hair and thus headbands serve no purpose to them.
In my son's ongoing quest to do things that his mom or I do, he's taken to wanting to wear his mom's headband. He has his own computer that he likes to bang on if one of us using the computer. He likes to take the remote while the TV is on. He always wants a bite of whatever we're eating--or drinking (especially coffee!).
The cell phone is his favorite. If we leave it within reach, he will inevitably find it, open it and attempt to dial.
So far he's called my voicemail. My wife fears that he will somehow manage to call her boss. It's like juvenile drunk-dialing.
But the headband thing is crossing the line for me. I'm comfortable with my manhood and whatever my son becomes is what he becomes. However, I can't help but think about Ernest Hemingway as a young child. His mother dressed him up like a girl. And while he became a great American author...the dude had issues.
I'm not implying that a headband is the first step towards a cross-dressing two-year-old, but I felt I needed to cut this habit off before it became too serious.
Sure, he does look cute with the thing on his head. It's hard to explain, but to me, he looks like some sort of robot and I find robots incredibly cool. I do think it's kind of funny, but we can't have him going into pre-school wearing women's headbands.
So the logical solution is find something that dad wears so we can attempt to replace this habit. Well, he already wears lots of hoodies and cool shoes. He sports the Falcons' jersey on Sundays. I can't make the kid look more like me than he already does.
So I have to add an accessory to my own repertoire. And the sweatband has been introduced.
Long a staple in competitive sports where the competitor sweats. It's a stylish, yet functional device that keeps hair and sweat out of one's eyes.
So to the sports store we go. I was hoping he'd pick black, but when faced with a decision between red, black, and white, he went with red.
So now at home throughout the course of the day, you'll find me sporting a red sweatband. If I'm wearing it, there's a good chance my son is as well. He seems to like it and it seems, thus far, to be a sound substitute for the female headband.
I must admit, we look like a couple of tennis pros sitting around relaxing. At first glance, you'd probably expect us to break out into a pick-up game of basketball at any given moment. He's not quite ready for that, but the sweatband does help when wrestling. Ever the goon, I pull it down over his eyes so he can't see as I proceed to put him in the cross-face chicken wing.
I am concerned, however, about when I'm not at home. Which band does my wife wear: sweat or hair? If I'm not here, does she support the conversion or is she content to let him dress like a girl?
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