teen son shaved his eyebrows!

[mamakookadis]

I'm new here, and could use some advice. My thirteen year old son has been shaving his eyebrows. He thinks that they are too bushy, so he's been using my ladies razor and shaving them in the middle and on the top. I have heard of little kids trying this, but he is thirteen! Is this normal? His eyebrows are a bit dark and thick, but they are not that bad, at least in my opinion. I know that this is the age when kids get self-conscious about their appearance, but evidently he doesn't realize that it makes him look ridiculous! I have tried to tell him that it actually draws more attention to his eyebrows, but he doesn't believe me. He lies and says that he didn't do it (when it's pretty obvious that he did!), then he justifies it that he doesn't like his eyebrows so he needs to shave them. His father has told him that he can pluck them if he is unhappy with them, but he just goes and shaves them again when they start to grow back.

This really is bothering me on many levels. First, he is doing something dangerous. Razors should not ever go so near to an eye, and he always seems to nick himself. Second, he lies right to my face that he didn't shave them, when I can SEE that he did! And third, it just doesn't seem right that a 13 year old BOY should be so worried about his eyebrows! Am I overreacting? His dad doesn't seem to think too much of it. He said that he never liked his eyebrows when he was a kid, although he never went so far as to pluck them or shave them. Has anyone experienced this before? Am I making too much of it? Thanks!

 

[Linnis]

Lots of men groom their eyebrows and other body hair. My husband takes his razor when he shaves and gets between his eye brows and trims them when the hairs get too long and start to look bushy. He also takes his beard trimmer to his chest hair when it gets to be too much for his liking. It doesn't look girlie or anything.

I think you are worrying too much. Maybe Dad should take him to pick out a razor and he could teach him how to get the middle and top, without nicking himself. They could discuss what would be an appropriate amount of grooming for a boy.

Maybe he only lies about it because he's self conscious. He's 13, becoming a teenager, starting to worry/think more about how girls see him. How he sees himself. etc

 

[Redstiletto]

Alright, no I dont have a teenage son, but I know a lot of teenage boys (I have three little sisters) and most of my friends have been male.

This might be a subject for your husband to talk with him about, especially at the age your son is at. Males at that age are very insecure about how they look. Maybe have his father take him to get his eyebrows waxed, and see if that makes him feel better so he stops hacking them with the razor.

I have a lot of male friends that to this day go once a month to get their eyebrows waxed, its becoming a popular thing to do because it is quick and you dont risk hacking them off with a razor.

Just a suggestion, and he might be lying to you because he is insecure with how he looks and he doesnt want people to know.

 

[icbeckyc]

I grew up with 4 brothers and all their friends were at our house all the time. I didn't even have a girl cousin to hang w/ at family things. I can say boys do some odd things, but really no odder than girls. My husband has very bushy eyebrows and gets them trimmed at the barber. Maybe you can think about letting him do that. They aren't waxed just snipped with sissors and a few are plucked. I am glad he does his eyebrows, cuz by the time he goes I am getting weirded out by them. lol I would be a little concerned about the lying, but he is just trying to feel good about himself. So I would let go of that one. At least he isn't wearing black eyeliner or asking for a piercing.

 

[mommykate5]

My brother's eyebrows are kind of bushy and sometimes he gets them "threaded"
It's more natural than getting them waxed or plucking them. It just grooms them a little bit.
Maybe you could look into that.

 

[spiersdodgerblue]

My son is 18 so when I read the first line I started to crack up ....sorry.
I think the waxing thing is a good idea alot of men of all ages are doing it. But I would diffently take him in a salon to get it done by someone who knows what they are doing.

My son plays baseball and in season he shaves HIS LEGS oh my gosh all the high school boys do this. I just let him be on this one. No harm no foul. When it is not baseball season he does not shave. LOL He would kill me if he knew I was telling people though so don't tell people about your sons brows.

No biggie Mom he'll be fine.

 

[TamiinKS]

I have a 13 year old son and while he doesn't shave his eyebrows himself, he comes to me to do it for him. Just to make sure there are two rather than one.

Don't worry too much, mom. Try to find ways to communicate to him that you value his feelings. And don't tell him that razors should never go near eyes. That might work for women, but when my husband and sons shaves their faces, that razor kinda needs to be there!

 

[Bianca87]

Well, in my opinion yes, you're kind of overeacting. You're a very lucky parent if the biggest trouble you have with you're teenage son is this.
Today man care about their physical appearance as much as women...just take him to a saloon, he''ll be happy and you won't have too look at his ugly shaved eyebrows.

 

[GoNoles]

I agree with the others... many, MANY men and young men are getting their eyebrows waxed. Personally, I don't like it... but - hey - I don't have to do it, right? haha

Can I add something? I was a youth pastor for quite a few years. I'm just now raising a "teenager" (my son is soon to be 13, but he's almost bigger than me!) so I'm trying to learn that they do need to try a few different things and don't want us to make fun of it. If you can show that you can work with him on this one, you'll help keep the communication lines open for the REALLY big things that are sure to come.

God bless.

 

[jessa92627]

WHAT FUN KIDS CAN BE...

I TOO AM NEW HERE AND IT IS WELCOMING TO SEE THAT I AM NOT ALONE IS THE CRAZINESS OF RAISING TEENAGRS.... MY ONLY SUGGESTION IS TO TAKE HIM AND HAVE THEM WAXED BY A PROFESSIONAL IF HE IS INSITANT ON SHAVING THEM...

I'm new here, and could use some advice. My thirteen year old son has been shaving his eyebrows. He thinks that they are too bushy, so he's been using my ladies razor and shaving them in the middle and on the top. I have heard of little kids trying this, but he is thirteen! Is this normal? His eyebrows are a bit dark and thick, but they are not that bad, at least in my opinion. I know that this is the age when kids get self-conscious about their appearance, but evidently he doesn't realize that it makes him look ridiculous! I have tried to tell him that it actually draws more attention to his eyebrows, but he doesn't believe me. He lies and says that he didn't do it (when it's pretty obvious that he did!), then he justifies it that he doesn't like his eyebrows so he needs to shave them. His father has told him that he can pluck them if he is unhappy with them, but he just goes and shaves them again when they start to grow back.

This really is bothering me on many levels. First, he is doing something dangerous. Razors should not ever go so near to an eye, and he always seems to nick himself. Second, he lies right to my face that he didn't shave them, when I can SEE that he did! And third, it just doesn't seem right that a 13 year old BOY should be so worried about his eyebrows! Am I overreacting? His dad doesn't seem to think too much of it. He said that he never liked his eyebrows when he was a kid, although he never went so far as to pluck them or shave them. Has anyone experienced this before? Am I making too much of it? Thanks!

 

[cookiebaker]

13 yr olds are very self conscious of their looks. I would ignore it and instead of focusing on this one thing, I would find ways to affirm him that are positive, such as if he has a good sense of humor, a nice smile, caring heart, good at sports, etc etc. He will more than likely grow out of this phase

 

[heron]

..and another thirteen-year old might have made a comment that his eyebrows are less than acceptable. You know how adolescents can be -- so adolescent!

If you're worried about his eyes, get him a pack of disposable razors -- the blade is so close to the plastic, it would be hard to get hurt.

There's a lot of media attention on eyebrows these days... not just the makeover shows, but also comedians laughing at unibrows. People pick up on these comments, in trying to avoid criticism.

 

[missyjean130]

Maybe he is getting negative comments about them from others or is just a personal preference of. It's not something to worry about lol

Heck, I'd give him tips on how to groom his eyebrows if I were you

 

[homeofmew]

xD this is normal. He's already hit puberty (or will hit it too)
it's a complicated time.
It will go away before he turns 18.

 

[WarEagle]

The reason your husband doesn't think it's a big deal is that he was a thirteen year old boy. I, too, was a thirteen year old boy (but only for about a year) and I currently have a thirteen year old son.

Let me let you in on a little secret: thirteen year old boys do really stupid things for no reason whatsoever.

He'll grow out of it.

 

[BeanMak]

^^ second the above assessment. Mine is 24 and I still marvel at some of the dumb A$$ things he does...

 

[JustBoo]

I feel so sorry for young men. It's not acceptable to look ungroomed but it's even less acceptable to actually groom yourself.What's a thirteen year old to do. At least for girls it's acceptable to preen.
Tell your son that you're perfectly fine with him grooming himself in whatever way he sees as important and then offer to take him to wax or to teach him to pluck yourself. He's probabaly etting the ' but he's a boy . . ' vibe you're giving off and doesn't want to admit to shaving them because he fears you'll think less of him or think he's "being a sissy' or some other such nonsense . . .
Have his father assure him that it's normal to want to groom and then show him some ways to do it safely and effectively.