Razors and Shaving Cream

I bought Kyle a razor today and a can of shaving cream. It was a weird experience. My not-so-little boy is shaving now. He has been for a couple of months or so with Kirk's razor. He had this dark fuzz on his upper lip, and it was bothering him, making him feel embarrassed. I swore to myself when I was a kid that if one of my own children ever wanted to shave, I would let them.

I remember being twelve and having legs so hairy that I wore tube socks so people wouldn't see them. Thankfully, tube socks were still in style, and I had some to go with every outfit. One pair had yellow stripes, one had red, one had both blue and red. I was set. But then my friends started wearing crew socks rolled down, and I was in trouble. They saw my legs and laughed. I cried.

I told my mom about it, but she said I was too young to shave. She said I had to be 13. That was a whole summer away. It was early June. Field Day. My birthday wasn't until August, so I kept wearing the tube socks. I was either going to be uncool because of the socks or the hair. I chose the socks.

When I finally did get my hands on a razor, my mom told me I could shave only to my knees. What was that about? My legs were equally hairy all the way up, and I was supposed to stop at my knees? Was she kidding? But I complied and only shaved my calves, at least for awhile. There I was, 13 years old, awkward enough in my braces and glasses, and now I had half-shaved legs on top of that. I was a walking case of nerdness.

I broke down before summer was over and shaved my thighs too. My mom found out. Not sure how, but she did, and she came into my room and confronted me with a disappointed, "You'll regret it" speech and shook her head and sighed. I didn't regret it. Ever.

And I made up my mind then and there that if I ever had kids who wanted to shave, they could. I never wanted them to feel the shame and embarrassment I felt as a kid over something that could have been so easily remedied.

When Kyle came to me complaining about his lip hair, I asked him if he wanted to take it off. He did. So I let him. He used Kirk's razor the first few times, and today he asked for his own. I got him one at Kroger along with a can of Edge. I know he'll never look back.