PYHO: What Kind Of Parent Are You?

 Anyone that knows me well, knows that I like the show "Glee".  

Go ahead and laugh at me, I'll wait.  

Are you finished?  Then I'll start.

The kids and I started watching it while we were living in China.  We actually had a Glee Marathon one week when they were out of school and Ryan was traveling.  We didn't have regular TV over there, but we COULD get whole Seasons on DVD.  Weird, huh?  Anyway, we walked across the street, bought Season 1, and spent 2 days watching nothing but Glee.  It was cold and rainy, so it's not like we could go outside anyway!  :)

I enjoyed it because we had amazing conversations. We talked about drugs and alcohol, sex, bullying, friendship and love.  I gained new insight into my kids, and I think they learned things about me they never knew before. 

One of my favorite characters is Burt Hummel.  For those of you that don't watch the show, he's a typical Redneck, 100% Man's Man, who has been a single father for years to an openly gay teenage boy.  And yes, he struggles with it, and he has issues with it, but through it all, he NEVER stops loving his child, and he never stops believing in him.  

I look at him, and I think, "THAT'S the kind of parent I want to be."  First let me start by saying that I have AMAZING parents.  But honestly, my brother and I are pretty boring.  And that's okay.  I HOPE my kids are boring!  But with 3 of them, chances are pretty high that at least one of them is going to present us with a situation that we're uncomfortable with and isn't what we had planned for our kids.  Now whether that's being gay, not going to college, wanting to drop out of high school, drinking underage, or WHATEVER the challenge may be, I hope I can be the kind of parent that Burt Hummel is.  I HOPE I can be someone my kids will always love and respect.  

I hope I can be someone they can always turn to when they need something.  I hope I can be the parent that will always stand by them, even when I don't agree with the choices they are making.  I hope I can be the parent that will be there during the hard times, so that I'll be able to celebrate with them during the good times.  I HOPE I'm that parent.  I WANT to be that parent. 

But I know it's not going to be easy.  I know I'm going to let them down.  I know I'm going to disappoint them.  I know I'm going to say things to them that I shouldn't say.  But I hope I don't.  I hope I'm supportive, loving, caring, and their biggest cheerleader.  I HOPE I'm THAT kind of parent.  Because my children are AMAZING.  And they DESERVE. THAT. KIND of parent.

GLEE . . . .

I'm not sure if any of you watch the show GLEE, but the kids and I do, and we really like it. That's pretty much the only music we listen to in the car. Sarah even gets in the car and says "I wanna listen to Jessie's Girl." And as soon as it comes on, she knows what it is. She'll go, "that's Jessie's Girl mommy!" All three of my kids have always liked music, so that's probably one reason they like the show so much.

I started watching it in China. A LOT of my friends over there told me to watch it, but I just thought I watched enough TV, so I didn't need to add one more to my list. Finally, one night after American Idol, I decided to watch it since every one else was in bed. It was REALLY good. I really liked it. The first episode I watched was "Laryngitis" which had Jessie's Girl in it, and I've loved that song ever since it came out IN THE 80'S!!! (I feel so old)! I even have the original on my mp3 player, although I have to admit I don't listen to that version anymore.

Anyway, a lot of the kids' friends were watching it as well, so they wanted to see it. If you've seen it, you know they deal with a lot of "mature" topics, so I wasn't sure whether or not it was a good idea for them to see it. After a few days of contemplation, I decided it was better for them to watch it with ME, than to watch it while at their friends. Plus, because I'd already seen every episode, I knew what was coming and what things to talk about with them during each episode. Needless to say, we've had some real "eye opening" conversations. But that's a whole other discussion!

The thing I like most about the show is that the main theme, to me anyway, seems to be about being true to yourself. The teacher is always telling the football player that the things and people that are so important to him now, probably won't be after he graduates from high school. And that's SO true on so many levels. I have ONE friend from high school that I still talk to every week, and sometimes every day. I have about 2 or 3 that I talk to every few weeks. And that's it.

I tell my boys all the time: Do what YOU want to do and what's important to YOU. And don't worry about what other people think. If you are doing what's important to you, then you are going to be happy. There are always going to be people that don't like you, for whatever reason, and you can't change that. So try not to worry too much about it, and just be true to yourself.

NOW, if I could only convince myself of the same thing! ;-)