"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree..."

Okay... I really don't know what to say about this, except that there are times in life when you look at your children and wonder... that's all... just wonder. And with my group of guys, I'm frequently dumbfounded! I believe this was one of those moments! Captured on camera, exclusively for your entertainment... Clayton's Gene Simmons impersonation. What a little rebel! He's always been an advocate of nonconformity...

Last summer we took the boys out to dinner. I was sitting beside Clay at the table when he started getting excited and couldn't stay in his seat. He stood up on the chair and started to point and shout, "Look mom! Look!" A man had just entered the restaurant. He reminded me of a character out of an old Clint Eastwood movie... where the man enters a saloon and the foreboding whistle yodels in the background, then everybody freezes "mid-drink" in fear. He must have strayed from a Hell's Angels rally. He was garbed in leather from head to toe, trimmed in fringe, steel toed leather boots, and a sleeveless jacket with some kind of snake and skull patch on the back. He was sleeved in tattoos, many of them inappropriate for "young viewers", and had long hair and a beard. I tugged at Clay's shirt, trying to get him to take his seat and had scarcely begun my "it's rude to point" lecture when he enthusiastically continued... "Mom! He is SO COOL!" One year we bought Clay some of those "temporary" tattoos. He came out of the bathroom a few minutes later with them plastered up and down both arms. I laughed until I realized they weren't as "temporary" as the package had indicated. I figured eventually they'd wear off. Later that week he brought a note home from school, informing us that the tattoos had to be removed before he would be allowed to return to school. Apparently, they were a violation of the dress code. So, with an exfoliating pad in one hand and an apprehensive child in the other, I proceeded with the "debridement". I succeeded... they came off... accompanied by a few layers of skin. Everyday is an adventure with Clay. He's crazy about anything that rolls or makes noise... bicycles, motorcycles, NASCAR, hot rods, monster trucks, skateboards, and - of course - his electric guitar. He's a liberal... not politically, but physically. He's not a fan of clothes and, on more than one occasion, I've come home to a path paved in apparel, leading to a "free spirited" Clayton... roaming the house in boxers! He puts a smile on my face everyday... and he still says he loves me... "with all his bellyheart".

Clayton and Cameron, "Rock Around the Christmas Tree!"