A New Tune on Connected Kids.

It’s been nearly a week since the New York Times profiled my 16 year old eating a Sonic hamburger.

Lesson learned: If you’re going to be photographed for a news story, don’t get caught eating. Tyler didn’t seem to mind his self portrait in junk food being shown to the free world, I would have fainted if I had been the one eating in that photo.

Since the article was printed, I’ve made a deliberate effort to eat out less during the week. We are still eating on the run (one day I made pot roast and they ate it on paper plates walking out the door to a football game) but I don’t think we had fast food for dinner one night this week.

Family meals or not though, I challenge anyone to tell me I’m not connected to my kids.

Tonight I had to take Jordan to the mall for dress clothes.

He’s participating in Cotillion, etiquette classes. 

(Everyone should stop right now and say a prayer for the cotillion teacher. She will need it. I’ve already told her he might need remedial cotillion. She laughed like I was joking. I was not.)

You know how you read about sullen teens, not wanting to talk with their parents, hating the world?

We’ve had that. But not often, and it’s never lasted.

It was just the two of us in the car, and as soon as we hopped in, he said, “hey, let’s listen to MY I-pod music.”

Normally, my answer would have normally been a resounding “no way.”  I have no desire to listen to Chris Brown, Kanye West…no rap for me.

But, Jordan, as are all things Jordan, marches to his own beat. He likes 80′s music and he’s suggested songs for my I-pod that I really like. I agreed to the request (the mall is 15 minutes, how bad can it be, right?)

He jokingly started with Jay Z and Chris Brown and finally landed on, of all things, Boys II Men doing “End of the Road.”

I remember that song from my college years. They had beautiful voices, including a very rich baritone singer in the group.

Jordan is so ‘connected’ to me that he proceeded to sing that song the whole way to the mall, in his crackly 12 year old pre-pubescent voice. And he knows every last word, every ‘you belong to me,’ every “ohhhh my gu-gu-goodness.” He even knew the spoken baritone part which is a love profession:

“Girl I’m here for you
All those times of night when you just hurt me
And just run out with that other fella
Baby I knew about it, I just didn’t care
You just don’t understand how much I love you do you?
I’m here for you”

Just picture yourself being serenaded by a twelve year old singing those lyrics, trying to match the real singer’s baritone pitch, but sounding more like a choking duck.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He mutilated that song, his voice squeaking like a broken clarinet, but he did it with such passion, you would have thought his heart was broken today.

We got to the mall, rushed through JC Pennys and got the dress clothes (size 12 men’s dress shoes, thank you. A snug size 12 I might add. On my 12 year old. Do boy’s feet always match their age because if so, I’m in trouble.)

After the shopping, we got back in the car for the ride home.

Repeat the original trip, only this time it was Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.”

My child hearts Taylor Swift in a huge way, so knowing how he sang “End of The Road”, you can just imagine how he crooned to Taylor singing “Love Story.”  You’d of thought Ms. Taylor was riding in the back seat with us.

He sang like there was no tomorrow, at the top of his lungs, and knew every last word out of her mouth.

I think family dinners are important, I wish we were better at it. And we certainly need to limit the junk food.

But I have no doubt that I’m my kids are connected to me, regardless of where we gather as a family to eat.

Now if someone could just lend me some translucent ear plugs.

Connected? You tell me.

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