I make no secret of the fact that The Pony is a nerd.
Even if I tried, his nerdness could not be hidden. He's quite possibly the second nerdiest nerd who ever nerded. Next to his brother Genius, of course. Let the record show that The Pony does not wear a pocket protector. But he DID on new-induction dress-up day for his middle school Beta Club. The sponsor selected the professions, and she made The Pony a pharmacist. He wore a short white coat, with a pocket protector and several pens. And he loved it. He asked for a little tablet like a prescription pad, though I hope he wasn't forging any prescriptions with his bad handwriting.
The Pony doesn't wear tape on the nosepiece of his glasses. But I DID repair the earpiece where it hooks onto the lenses with masking tape when a screw fell out. Yes. The Pony's nerdness can be seen by cosmonauts from the International Space Station.
The Pony hates jeans. Now that he is kicking up his heels with independence, he refuses to wear them. No longer can I lay them out for his second-grade self to put on because he has nothing else. He will not wear track pants. Not since the two stints with a broken elbow, when he had to be able to remove them one-handed for bathroom purposes. In fact, I succumbed to The Pony's fashion peccadilloes and bought him short-sleeve polo shirts which he buttons to the top, and cargo pants in assorted colors.
With winter coming on, and shorts no longer feasible (according to Val, not The Pony), a new leggings wardrobe was necessary. Can't have the growing Pony exposing his fetlocks to the chill winds of Backroads. So last week, I sent The Pony on a mission to pick out three pairs of pants to augment his current stable of cargo. He returned to my cart on the bread aisle, bearing a stack of slacks. Not jeans. Not cargo pants. Not track pants. Slacks. For everyday wear.
Let the record show that The Pony attends not a private school, but a public school on the very low end of the economic spectrum. Over 75% of our students qualify for free or reduced meals. We are an institution of no-frills dressers. Jeans. Cargo pants. Track pants. Camouflage. Boots. Off-brand footwear. NOBODY WEARS SLACKS!
Except The Pony. I made him try on a pair this morning before our trip to town. They fit. So he took off the tags and suited up. By the time we got home, he was singing slacks praises. "I LOVE these pants! They are so much more comfortable than my other pants. The fabric itself is different."
At least he doesn't ask to wear a dress shirt, tie, and vest like little Genius back in elementary school.
You know who to blame for his fashion quirks? The same person who should be blamed for EVERY ONE of his oddities. His dad, of course.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend whose nerdy son refused to wear any footwear but flip-flops throughout high school, no matter what the weather. He's now in Harvard Law...though I don't know if the flip-flops are still attending with him.
ReplyDeleteNow if you can only convince him to stop fastening the top button on his shirts.
ReplyDeleteI have great mental images of The Pony & little Genius!!
ReplyDeleteYou've got a couple of budding tycoons!
ReplyDeleteMy brother who is 64 is the same way...slacks, never blue jeans. My grandson will wear shorts all year. Hope you had a great turkey day. Back to school!
ReplyDeleteSioux,
ReplyDeleteThe same one who is blamed for everything around here, just on general principle.
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Tammy,
I had a friend like that in college, And I guarantee she never got a whiff of Harvard. I, on the other hand, went to Harvard. To a convention, for two days, and walked through Harvard yard. Not in flip-flops.
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Stephen,
That's a losing battle. Oh, how I've tried! Funny thing, he insists on NOT wearing a tie to events such as the National Honor Society induction (I made him anyway) and the award ceremony at his MY PEOPLE NERD CAMP REUNION. Still, he buttoned up the top button of that dress shirt. It was crying for a tie.
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fishducky,
Yes. It's easy to picture little nerds-in-the-making.
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Catalyst,
If only, if only, the woodpecker sighs, the bark on this tree was as soft as the skies. While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely, and cries to the moon, if only, if only.
Yeah. The Pony quotes that to me all the time. I guarantee Sioux knows what it's from.
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Linda,
The Pony was like that last year, but I forced him to wear pants if the temp was below 40. Back to school, you said at 6:37 a.m.? Bwahaha! At 5:44 I got THE CALL that we were cancelled.