Totally Un-cool

The other day I was reading an article in our local newspaper about the "Top 10's of 2008" which included the top 10 albums, movies, musical groups, concerts, etc. I sat there looking at the list, trying to find a name I might recognize. I quickly realized I don't know any of these people. This made me think of why it is that most teenagers believe their parents to be extremely out of touch, and well, just plain old.
When I was a kid, of course I thought my parents were old and that they didn't know anything about being cool. As most teenagers do, I thought I would be different. I was going to be the cool mom. I imagined I would always be up on the latest music and fashion fads. Yeah, right!

I am admitting right here, right now, that I am WAY out of touch and can almost guarantee that in 10 years my daughters will NOT think I'm cool. I have a theory on why that is.

First of all, I never get to watch any TV unless it's Sesame Street, Super Why, Word World, or Curious George. That's about it these days. I can't watch 'regular' TV with the girls around. I don't want them to hear or see things that may wrongly influence them. If it's not on PBS, it's not on our TV. I honestly can't remember the last time I watched Oprah, or the View. I used to enjoy those shows, along with the evening news and various other shows. Now I get my news from quickly reading the newspaper headlines, or a brief article on the internet.

The other reason I'm out of touch with cool is the radio. In my car we usually listen to the soundtrack from the Curious George movie, or other tunes by Jack Johnson. They're kid friendly, Mom approved. If we listen to the radio, it's a station that dubs itself "The Lite" or "Soft Rock from the 70's, 80's and more". I can't listen to the popular music of today with my girls in the car! I don't think I even have to explain why. James Taylor and Frank Sinatra will do just fine for now.

So, in my theory parents are forced to be out of touch for many years while we cater to our children. Then, by the time the kids get to school and start hanging out with their 'cool' friends, we're already too far gone.

I'm a little disappointed that I won't be one of the few cool Moms out there. Maybe by some miracle one of our girls will still think I'm cool, but I won't count on it. I'll just understand the reasons why it happened, and leave it at that. Being the Mom is more than enough for me, adding 'cool' to that title really isn't necessary.