Last Friday at four o‘clock in the morning, my husband and I dragged all five of our children out of bed and went down to Bryant park in New York City to see the one. . .the only. . .the incredible. . .
JONAS BROTHERS!!!!!
Yes, even my three year old twins can sing a very unique version of S.O.S. and my son thinks they are the greatest thing since sliced bread because after all, they are home schooled. My five year old knows all the words to Camp Rock and well–what can I say? My spouse and I know the Jonas Brothers songs too. (Hey, I liken it to knowing all the Wiggles’ songs when the average age of our household was substantially lower.)
So what’s cooler than the Jonas Brothers?
I had joked with Michele and Libby last week that getting up at o’dark thirty to do this, made me “the coolest mom of the year.” Turns out according to my children, I earned that honor long ago. Over a McDonald’s breakfast after the Jo Bros, my husband teased, “Isn’t mom the greatest?” We were surprised when the following conversation ensued:
“Well yeah–she was the greatest before today though Dad,” said Liz in her now typical ‘I thought everyone knew that’ tweenish tone of voice.
“Yeah–she knows all the characters to Star Wars,” pipes Alex (who is seven.)
“And she’s going to plant a garden with me,” says Meghan.
“And we never see her use her cell phone like all the other moms down here,” quips my son who pretty accurately described the culture of the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
“And she cooks good food and she lets me help.”
“And she home schools us.”
The list got sillier from there to include the fact that I can roll my tongue and know most of the words to most of the songs from High School Musical. But it was an interesting and encouraging sort of conversation that reaffirmed what I’ve always known and observed about raising children.
To Be the Coolest Parent. . .
I can assure you, I am not super mom. Everything doesn’t get done in my house–but we do have an awful lot of fun trying. Someone once asked me how I got everything done, and still manage to spend time with my kids. (In fact, I’ve been asked that more than a few times.) I used to say something like, “Well, I do it because I have to–I’m not sending anyone back!” Or, “I am very organized.” Those are true: I’m definitely NOT sending anyone back from whence they came and I am a very organized person. . .but I’ve decided that I have a more appropriate response:
I have worked with over a thousand children now, and I have had the opportunity to see some grow up and I’ve never met a teenager or an adult who said that they wished their parents had kept the house a little neater, or had dusted the top corner of the shelf more diligently. Not once has anyone said to me, “I wish my mom/dad would’ve worked more so that we had more things or more vacations.”
What I have heard over and over and over again is this: “I wish my parents would’ve. . .
. . .spent more time with us.
. . .paid more attention to me.
. . .done more fun things with us.
. . .been around more.
What I learned from my kids is that it isn’t that my husband and I dragged our behinds out of bed early in the morning to do the Jonas Brothers, it was that we consistently make an effort to do things with our kids, know what our kids like and don’t like and when we’re with them. . .we try to be with them. And did I mention that we just think parenting is fun?