This picture isn’t from this year, it’s from three years ago when Alfie had first come to live with us. But too cute not to share! We don’t have this much snow at the moment but it’s very cold and we are waiting for more.
Yesterday I came over all middle aged about the secondary school kids coming home early and just wearing polo shirts and blazers despite the freezing weather. None of them wear coats and I expect it’s just not cool to do so. Having opted my son out of school four years ago when he was 13, all this peer pressure and fitting in business is in the hazy past for us.
I was getting rather judgmental about this when I started thinking about myself at about 15. I was at school in Malaysia which, I think, is partly why I am still baffled every year when it gets unbelievably cold here and starts to grow dark at 3.30pm. I’ve never really got used to that. I thought about my school uniform and how it consisted just of a short sleeved dress, which we wore with sandals. All year round; nothing else was needed. There was no air-conditioning in my school, just ceiling fans and windows, and we had to weight down all our papers. How lovely and warm we must have been!
Then I really remembered. I saw myself in that dress, which was a vile green colour, insisting on wearing a white cardigan on top of it, every day. There was absolutely no need for a cardigan; I really didn’t need to own one and I’ve no idea why I did. But I’m sure I wore the cardigan because I thought it was cooler (in the style sense, not the temperature sense, obviously), and possibly because some of my other class mates did as well.
So really, there’s no difference between me sweltering in my cardigan and those kids freezing in their blazers. Except about 35 years. We were all teenagers once.
What really baffles me is that the styles back from my teenaged days are coming back and how bad they really look lol
I know! There are things, like wedge heels, that have come back into fashion but I can’t bear to wear because of the age I was when they first came round. Some of those things need to stay in the past!
you make a good point – it applies well to judging teenagers, but it can also apply to *any* judging we do of others!
I’ve found myself telling older teenagers that ‘they’ll understand when they’re my age’ – I’ve had to stop myself a couple of times, because although it’s true, boy does it make me sound old!
Cheers,
Gordon
Yes I agree, judging helps no-one and often hinders. I have to think about myself at 17 all the time to check my comments at home, and often I find, if I really listen, that the Teenager can be rather wise… Thanks for commenting.