My 13-year-old son is one of “those” boys. The kind who can be found sporting shorts even when temperatures dip into the 20s and teens.
At church on Christmas Eve, where other families were outfitted in coordinating ensembles surely dictated by Pinterest, or at the 8th-grade science fair, where many of the kids chose skirts or shirts and ties from their closet, my son went with a more casual approach.
This raised an eyebrow with my husband when it came to church attendance, but drew not so much as a blink on the morning of the science fair.
After working for 30-plus years in the technology field alongside a few real-life “Big Bang Theory”-types, the kind who sometimes combine their distinctive ensembles with sandals, shorts at a science fair didn’t seem that unusual to him.
For the last few years, boys wearing shorts throughout the winter has become a national story. Not a controversial one, more of a reporter-chuckling-and-shaking-his-head kind of report.
For me, it’s a nice change to talk about what the boys are wearing instead of the girls, who spark their own family debates beginning with the leggings that make their appearance in the fall to the shorts and tank tops that emerge in the spring.
Some parents of shorts-wearing boys, like me, have thrown up their hands and reverted back to a pick-your-battle philosophy.
After all, my son’s shorts are pretty long. When paired with longer socks, only his kneecaps are showing. I tried to reason with him that his shorts remind me of a middle-aged woman’s capri pants, but he didn’t buy it.
My thoughts are if my kid wears shorts and temperatures dip to frigid levels, next time he may – and I emphasize MAY – decide to wear pants. And if it’s cold enough, he might just grab a coat.
The coat-less issue is almost as big of a mystery as the shorts.
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Kids say coats don’t fit in their cramped lockers. Or they claim they’ll get lice if they shove their winter apparel in amongst a bunch of others on a shared rack.
And let’s not forget the flip-flops. Some boys like to complete their winter outfits, sans coats but with shorts and extra-long socks, with flip-flops.
Luckily for us, our chilly but largely snowless winter has been somewhat accommodating all of this for now.
Woodstock Willie and Punxsutawney Phil say spring’s coming soon thanks to their inability to see their groundhog shadows. As for us parents, we can only hope it’s true.
Cathy Janek is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.