What is normal anyway?

Today I as my children and I were driving home from a visit to their Grandmother's, my oldest son and I got on the subject of what he calls "the snobby kids" at school and their take on what is normal.  He told me that he has been asked by his peers why he can't just be normal.  So I had to ask what 8th grade kids think is normal (yes, I will admit, I am as out of touch as my Mom was when I was 13).  He began to list off things that the kids consider normal, like having IPhones, wearing $60 pairs of shoes, hanging out at the mall, etc. He said the kids tell him that playing Pokemon and his 3DS is for little kids and question him as to why he doesn't have a smart phone.  At the mention of the smart phone I sort of cringed as cellphones have been a topic of much debate in our home but I was very surprised at his response.  He informed the kids who questioned him that spending $200 or more on a cellphone was just plane wasteful and he didn't need a $60 pair of shoes.  He also proudly told them that he got his shoes at Target on Clearance for $14.99 and that he really liked them.  

For his reactions to his peers I truly have to applaud my son.  Though it has been some time since I was 13 years old, I still very clearly remember the pressure to conform, to fit in and my desire to do so.  My son however, is able to do something that I was not able to do until adulthood: be his own person.  I really shouldn't be surprised.  From the moment he was born my oldest child has been strong willed and determined to do things his way.  He has an independent streak a mile wide and though that has caused us to butt heads on many occasions, it has also given him the confidence to not care what the "popular" kids think or even desire to be one of the popular kids.  He dresses his own way, had me die his hair black, is obsessed with the phedora a favorite cousin gave him, and still enjoys playing Pokemon, even when other kids think its for little kids.  

We have had mixed reactions from people as to how we allow our son to do things his way, especially when it comes to his hair and clothes.  Many people believe that we should force him to get a hair cut and make him dress more "normal", not that I think the way he dresses is odd at all. My question is: why?  Does not God's word tell us not to be conformed to the world (Romans 12:2).  Though this verse suggests spiritual or sinful conformation, I also believes that God also does not want us to try to fit in socially either.  We can take for example John the Baptist, who by all accounts did not fit into what many believed was "normal" for a prophet and certainly didn't fit the bill for one who was to lead the way for the Messiah (Isaiah 4:3 & Mark 1:3).  No, John the Baptist was considered by the standards of his time to be odd, perhaps even mentally unstable.  Yet he baptized our Lord and Savior.  So if he, in the important role God had chosen for him, did not conform, why should my son?  All that should matter is that he has a love for God and desire to serve him, not what color he chooses to have his hair or what clothes he chooses to wear.  

I also refuse to force my son into the "norm"  because I do not believe in the "norm".  Yes, I know society has it's standards of what is and isn't normal but those are simply societal constructs based on a purely human ideals.  And as my all three of my children have asked "What exactly is normal?"  And I believe this is a profound question we should all consider.  My oldest son accurately pointed out that what is normal in one part of the world would be considered strange in other parts, just as we consider the ways of people in other parts of the world strange to us.  Though this argument is rather simplistic, I would have to say more people should consider it before suggesting we fit into any sort of "norm".  Are we really to allow numbers on a pages (called statistics) to determine who we are and what we do?  I would say NO! We are more than numbers or "statistics" and my husband and I encourage our children to believe that!  We want them to be themselves, even if that means being unpopular.  Why?  Because God created them to be the wonderfully different people they are and as long as they have a heart for Him, all the rest doesn't truly matter.