Army, Legos, Video Games...and a Fashion Show?

Picking out materials at our
Unschooler Craft Shindig.

A few weeks back, my children and I were at one of our Unschooler Craft Shindigs at a friend's house. In the midst of the rather messy festivities, my middle daughter and some of her friends all headed downstairs to check out the area in the basement where the fashion show they were all participating in was going to be held.  As they disappeared, my 9 year old son (continuing to work side by side with me on his WWII army boat made out of recyclable materials) very quietly and without looking at me, muttered, "I'm going to tell you something but don't say anything so that anyone else can hear you."   Say what??  He repeated himself - quietly and once again without looking at me.  "I'm going to tell you something but don't say anything so that anyone else can hear you."   Alrighty.  My curiosity was piqued.

WWII army boat built out of
recyclable materials!

"I kind of want to be in the fashion show.  But don't say anything out loud so anyone can hear you."

Now, my 9 year old son is into a great many things.  Playing army, WWII and all things military, natural disasters, video games, football, hockey, basketball, legos, legos and more legos...to name a few.   Fashion shows are not something that had ever come up before.  And being that he's generally on the shy, *don't look at me or draw any kind of attention to me in any way* side, I will admit to being a teeny tiny bit surprised by his murmured confession.   But after an awkwardly whispered conversation, we headed down the stairs to see if there might be a chance he could join in on upcoming fashion show.

It didn't seem to bother the girls that my son wished to participate.  We received our little tour of the to-be runway, etc., and got instructions about what outfits he'd need (hipster, fancy and summer).  Mind you, this boy of mine pretty much maintained a mostly disinterested look on his face the ENTIRE TIME.  No big deal.  Whatever. (Don't look at me.)

Yep, I thought, it's gonna be interesting to see how this turns out.

About a week before the show, we made a trip to a local consignment store to pick out the hipster and fancy outfits and accessories.  The lady at the counter pointed us in the right direction and then inquired if we were shopping for Halloween costumes.   Not wanting to embarrass my son, I distractedly murmured something about a fashion show and nodded in the direction of my 12 year old daughter and then moved on.  Shortly after though, my shy guy asked if I had told her he was in a fashion show.  I reassured him I hadn't said anything about him.   There was a pause.   He then asked me if I was going to.  He then asked when I was going to.  He then asked if I had yet.  Over the course of the hour we were there shopping, he asked me no less than 5 times when I was going to tell her that he was in a fashion show.

Modeling his hipster look.

Not so subtle hint received.

As we were paying (and after one more whispered, "are you going to tell her I'm in a fashion show?"), I let the lady know that this handsome young man next to me who had helped pick out these funky and fancy outfits was going to be in a fashion show next week.  She oooh'd and aaah'd and asked curious questions and generally looked sufficiently impressed - enough to please this 9 year old boy of mine (even though he barely cracked a smile throughout the whole conversation).

All dressed up.

Flash forward to the fashion show:  my turn to be impressed.  Who'd have thought? Certainly not me.  My son came out and totally worked the "runway".  He paused for the description of each outfit, posed for pics and generally had sass and attitude.  He rocked it!  And I was surprised.  Thrilled and impressed...but admittedly, surprised.


In retrospect, I guess I really shouldn't have been so shocked.  I mean seriously, he does have two older sisters and a mom who watch shows like What Not to Wear, Say Yes to the Dress, Project Runway and Dancing with the Stars.  I also seem to remember a brief snippet in time (long, long ago) where he was very much into putting on little dance routines in our living room...complete with blaring music, an Indiana Jones fedora, mid-routine stripped off shirt a la Dancing with the Stars, and an impressive flashlight light show courtesy of an older sister.

Camo themed "summer look". 

On the ride home after our exciting Fashion Show Extravaganza, my handsome little modeling dude critiqued everyone else's performances.  Who paused the right amount time, who went too fast, how you needed to give the announcer time to read the description of your outfit and to hold a pose long enough so the audience could take pictures.

My my, one fashion show under his belt and already he's quite the expert.