Fuddy to the Duddy

Sometimes, I pause to consider what I have become.

Like when I use a completely scientific and therefore totally believable Facebook app that rates the top words in my status updates from last year as "sleep" and "nap." Awesomeness.

Or when I realize that the Best New Artist of the Year category at the Grammys may as well be called "A list of people/groups you've never heard of." Though to be fair to my thirty-something-year-old self, I have never exactly been up on what the kids are listening to these days.

(Can't you just hear me shaking my fist out my front door, and shouting, "You pesky kids, get off my lawn!" It's not that much of a stretch, is it.)

It's alright; I'm fairly comfortable with who I am. It's just that I used to be cooler somehow, and I mourn the loss of that coolness just a little bit.

For example, I used to have opinions about things other than which diaper brand prevent leaks best. And I certainly read a fair amount more than Olivia Forms a Band or Dora Goes to the Beach. Occasionally, I even had the latest in fashion, when I bothered to pay attention that is. (I was ahead of the curve in the Doc Martens craze, but I hung on to it for dear life and only closeted my last pair for good a few years ago).

Hm. I don't actually sound that cool, even in trying to make the case for myself.

I definitely used to be able to talk about things other than children, and birth stories, and sleep habits, and discipline. Once upon a time, I saw all the latest movies. Often in the theater even. None of which were even remotely animated. I could speak knowledgeably about plot devices, and the Hollywood It couple, and quote the most quotable lines. TV was another passion. It took dedication, but I stayed up on all my favorite shows without the help of a DVR. I knew the very moment that Rachel finally kissed Ross, and I painstakingly watched SNL every week monitoring it for the next awesome character or sketch. I loved anything with Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, or Chris Farley in it.

Now I just feel old. Most of pop culture is clearly no longer playing to my demographic. I can't stand a single show on VH1, save my one guilty pleasure in Celebrity Rehab. MTV's not much better. Jersey Shore might as well be The Real World part 43 to me a.k.a Yet Another Show with Drunken, Pugilistic Idiots. I've never watched The Bachelor other than pieces here and there, ditto for Dancing with the Stars, and even my Survivor cred leaves much to be desired.

I'm actually okay with being a little out of touch when it comes to inconsequential and silly stuff like that. But one thing I'd like to do better is to be more well-rounded and approachable when it comes to what I can talk about. I am more than a mom, and I need to strive to talk about things other than my kids. Sure, I love them to pieces and think they are some of the smartest, funniest creatures to ever walk the Earth, but that doesn't mean I should lose all sense of the rest of the world around me in my fervor to be their mother.

♦