My soon to be 17 year old son hasn’t thought I was cool for years—his hormones and propensity to blame me for everything wrong in the world has brought my cool factor down for some time. But my 7 year old daughter is a little different. In her eyes, I am the coolest mama that has walked the face of the earth and she lets me know everyday how much she appreciates having such a hip mom. We often dance to the same music and she loves that I can be goofy and silly when time allows. My son used to be like this as well, until one day, he woke up and determined that I was no longer relevant. This has me thinking, what’s going to happen when my daughter thinks that I am no longer cool?
I am not one of those parents who wants to be friends with their children—we can be friendly towards one another of course, but my role is as a parent, not as a friend. But I would like my children to know that they could come to me for anything and I would try listen; although this is sometimes hard to do.
Why do I want my kids to think I’m cool? I guess it’s because I feel that at 35 years old, I am not an old fogey. I will never co-sign everything my kids do for the sake of being “cool”, but I do want them to look at me as someone who is approachable, in the know, and on top of what’s current. The day I begin to lose that is a day I am not looking forward to.
I know the day is coming that my daughter will begin to scoff at my clothes, or the way I wear my hair, or the music I listen to. And when this happens, I will have to not take it personally and just move on, much like I have done with my son. I have to look at is as it and continue to parent—I am sure my parents thought the same thing when I started thinking they weren’t cool as well.
For the record, I don’t wear mom jeans or polyester, and I listen to all types of music, including old tunes and what’s new on the radio. I am cool because I am a fabulous chick—its their loss, not mine.
What do you think about losing your cool points with your kids? Do you take it personally? And most importantly, do you even care? Leave me some comments below and let me know what you think!
What to do when your child thinks you are no longer cool: My soon to be 17 year old son hasn’t thought I was coo… http://bit.ly/gAhVm2
I appreciated this blog so much. You will always be cool in your daughters eyes. My daughter is a 17 year old senior, and she thinks I’m the coolest mom. So much so that all of her friends think I’m the coolest mom. Inane so many “children” at het school. Whenever I’m at the school, I hear “hey moms” the entire time I’m there. I agree with not trying to be your childrens friend, yet we remain friendly enough that they respect us as parents and remain approachable when they have problems. I can only speak from the prospective of mother and daughter. As for your son, good luck staying cool. Boys are different!!!
Great blog
Thanks for commenting Erika. My son is not a fan of my “coolness” but I have gotten over that, thank God. LOL. I am hoping the bond between mother and daughter will always make her see me in a “cool” light. 🙂
“… I do want them to look at me as someone who is approachable, in the know, and on top of what’s current”.
The day any child stops seeing the parents as not approachable and not on top of current trends/ news etc is REALLY when that parent has lost all his/ her real cool factor, you know.
Great, fun post – with valuable meanings.
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You are definitely a hip mom I think. Don’t worry, even though your son may act like you aren’t cool, you still are in many ways to him I’m sure. I learned that with T – there are plenty of uncool things I do (like wear mom jeans LOL), but I make up for those uncool things in a lot of other ways and he still likes to hang out with mom which means I must be doing ok 🙂
Robyn, thank you for the vote of confidence. I am the cool mom in my head. And every once and awhile, my son actually doesn’t mind being seen with me. LOL. I will take it any way I can get it 🙂
I was no longer cool last year. I cried and cried and cried and cried…ok you get the point. My moms asked me why I didn’t know it would hurt so bad when he grew up did ya. I wanted to put my hands over my ears and humm like I wasn’t listening because she was so right. I’m over it now. He’s independent and I can get a mommy break every so often. This doesn’t mean I’m not active anymore since he has friends to text but if I train (this may offend someone but my Bible says train) him up well, he’ll go out into the world and make me look like a cool parent by choosing wisely.