Fuddy Duddy

I guess I'm becoming an old fuddy-duddy. Last night, my mom, my kids and I went to Silver Bells in the City, Lansing's annual Christmas tree lighting celebration. It was a great deal of fun with an electric light parade that lasted an hour, the main event - the tree lighting - and a spectacular fireworks display over the dome of the capitol building. There were also horse-drawn wagon rides, hot chocolate and roasted chestnuts on every corner, and musical performances in many downtown buildings.

And Cody Simpson.

For the past few years, Lansing has hosted up-and-coming pipsqueaks to perform on the capitol steps. Last year, it was Josh Golden. I looked him up on google, and he's pretty cute, but he's only 16. He looks way more grown up than a 16-year-old should. I haven't heard any more about him since then, but my girls were pretty psyched to be right next to the capitol steps so they could see him from the side. He came out and started singing, dancing and lunging toward the crowd, at which point I saw his boxers. Girls behind me were yelling, "I love you Josh!", and "I want to marry you, Josh". I yelled, "Pull your pants up!"

Back to Cody Simpson. I looked him up online to see who he was - at least I'd heard of him before. He is a little kid, people. He probably still plays with legos and wears underoos. Doesn't he look like the kid next door who comes over to ask if your 7-year-old can come out and play?



And, you can disagree with me if you want to, but in this picture, he looks like a little kid who is dressing up in his Dad's Ray-Bans for a theme day at school.



Cody Simpson is indeed a good singer, but even the songs he sings are inappropriately "old" for a 14-year-old. I was just shocked at this little kid, traveling the globe, having girls scream at him for his awesome voice and his pre-pubescent body (which by the way was wearing purple jeggings that still hung loose on him). I thought about him from the perspective of his mother - how would I feel if that were my kid??? Proud, I'm sure, but a little weirded out, too, at the way little girls were acting about my little boy.

Yeah, this has fuddy-duddy written all over it.

On the way home, the bus was packed. The kids and I were seated, but several high school and college kids were standing and holding on to the bars. However, one fellow in particular had to decide between holding up his pants and holding on to the bar. Will someone PLEASE tell me what is up with the pants, complete with belt, being worn just above the knees??? This guy had his stinkin butt in my daughter's face, covered only with his boxers because his pants were around his knees. Please someone explain this because I am beyond words. No fuddy-duddy here, just a rightfully scandalized mom. I just thought I'd add that detail in case someone would like to equip me with a tactful response when faced with the inappropriateness of that situation.