Lummer.
Posted: November 26, 2006 Filed under: Uncategorized 9 Comments »
When Reed saw his first Hummer limousine a couple of years ago, he was awestruck. He thought it was just the coolest thing. He nicknamed it a Lummer. You know, short for limousine Hummer. Anyway, he’s my guy who is the most into pop culture. He also bought himself a bling dollar sign on a huge chain from some junk shop at the beach. I guess he thinks that a middle class Jewish kid from the suburbs can be street. Right. Anyway….
On Black Friday, we had no plans. NO PLANS! Hooray! The boys asked if we had a big box. “You know, like a refrigerator box, Mom…” One might wonder why they’d think we did have a huge box laying around… But we didn’t. Come to find out they wanted a box to build something. I love when they’re creative rather than plugged in, so I wanted to help. We went to Sears. No boxes there. We called another appliance store. Nope. Went to the dumpster behind the mall. Nothing big enough. Surely, you can’t say we didn’t try hard enough!
Then Andrew decided to go to U-Haul to buy a wardrobe box. $10 for a day of fun? Sounds like a bargain to me. It’s over $50 for us to go to a movie matinee if we get snacks…. But I digress.
So the boys got to work with the box. They worked for hours. Then they got hungry. Then they played for hours more. Yesterday? They played with the box some more. Today? Still playing with the box.
Can you tell it’s a limousine? When you go inside the vehicle (and I did manage to get myself in there though getting out was significantly more difficult!), you get a further glimpse into pop culture. 
Perhaps a bit disturbing, but there are lines from popular songs gracing the inside walls. Some are fine. Some they don’t understand. I asked them what a moneymaker was and they stared at me blankly. Whew. But still…
So I guess it’s a mixed bag. All 3 boys played together for 3 days with a box, magic markers, tape, and their imaginations. Great stuff. But the graffiti on the inside reminds me that they are growing up and that the outside influences are very, very strong. Should we ban music? I think not. But we’d better keep the discussions going and the lines of communication open. Here we go into the teenage years…
Andrew sent me an article this morning about this, too. 10 Is the New 15 As Kids Grow Up Faster.
You have a beautiful family. I am terrified also of what is coming in the teen years ahead, but it seems like you are enjoying the moment now – IMHO you are on the right track – in your big o’l Lummer
It looked like the “limo” said “Tranquilizer” on the front! How funny! Tranquilizer for mom, at least!
Dang, no pictures of you trying to get out of that thing? Well, the box was worth the $10 at any rate, what great parents you are to go dumpster diving for giant boxes, how fun is that?
I read that “10 being the new 15″ article yesterday, and I wasn’t all that surprised, though I’m often still shocked at “little kids” sophistication.
Not working in a very “street” environment, it was my son and his friends that kept ME filled in on jargon, fads, and songs. How could they not? It’s in their classrooms, hallways, lunchrooms, parties. I just figured the best I could do was stay tuned in, and keep giving consistent messages about right & wrong…and pray a lot.
HA!
Notice how they wrote it in TXT language!
We loved boxes. Many a castle or fort depending on who was building was built in our basement.
Like the article
Rob’s youngest is about six months younger than Max and really likes Rap and Hip-Hop music. When she is at our house she always wants to watch MTV and put her CDs on. It is so overtly sexual it makes me a little uncomfortable, and I went to Smith!
She’s not my kid and I can’t control what she listens to outside my home, but I make sure to talk to her about why I don’t like it and don’t want to watch those videos or hear that music. I always ask her what she thinks of the women in those videos. Does she think they have children of their own? Hobbies? Careers? Does that woman represent all women? Is that how she wants people to view her? I hope its making some impact, but I doubt it. After all, I am her evil stepmother.
Yes, his hummer look great! He has hummer from early age, good imagination!
It’s a good idea. We have a lot of boxes and don’t know how to use them, just throw them, but now we see a good example.
Hey Wendy,
When I was a child, me and my brother also created carton cars, but of course, it was not Hummer limo, but simple sedans
Time passed, almost nothing have changed.
Thanks for the nice impressions.