Uh oh. My wife just sent me a link to Punk Baby Clothes Dot Net. Must.Buy.Things.
Now, to be honest, most of the stuff listed is junk. Not to get all Andy Rooney on you, but just because something has a skull on it doesn’t make it punk. In fact, that does the exact opposite to that piece of mass manufactured, Hot Topic inspired, item. And speaking of selling out, I would also like to take this moment to also tell parents that just because your kids listen to your music does not make them punks. It doesn’t make them cool. There’s a good chance that the kid, once exposed to the wider world, will be reduced to Bieberism and One Connection-itis before the next full moon. The fact that your kid has to suffer your music does not automatically make them a fan. I’m fully aware of that. And I expect that I’ll see my kid bopping out to the Old 97s someday and, for a moment, I’ll forget what I just wrote and think that “great! my kid has taste!” But, alas, who knows what will happen. And the fact that I’ll be the dad, well, there’s a chance I’ve just made all my favorite bands completely uncool just because I like them.
But some of these items are pretty great. The kid will need a gray fedora for his first Social Distortion concert. There’s also this Ramones onesie. I enjoy this shirt with a ninja in a hoodie because that was my default look through most of high school. I also particularly enjoy punkling since every time I call the baby kidling on this blog, my brother reads kindling and has to read the sentence again. And we can’t forget the rocketship because, kid, whatever happens, I hope you at least learn to have big dreams.