My kids and I have been talking about goals and dreams and life expectations a lot lately. I think it has something to do with Fric and Frac witnessing Exam Fever in their school with all the high school kids wandering around with looks of worry and stress marring their pretty zit-filled faces.
My kids are slowly starting to realize school eventually stops becoming less about recess and eating glue and more about grades and learning.
Poor suckers. Eating paste is so much more fun than studying for physics. At least, in my world.
My daughter talks about wanting to be a doctor and helping little kids like her little brother. She is starting to put the pieces of what she will need to do to make this dream come true together and she takes her schooling very seriously. I have no doubt that whatever it is she chooses to do with her life, she will accomplish it with her laser-sharp focus and superior intellect.
She gets that from me. Heh.
My son, is less focused. He doesn’t have a specific life dream as of yet except for winning the lottery and playing video games all day. While I tell him it’s good to have a dream, perhaps you should plan on a way to you know, feed yourself. Because the pantry doors under his momma’s roof are going to be permanently closed once he’s 18.
We talk about what they like to do, what they don’t like to do, what interests them and so on. Inevitably, the conversation turns to me and the choices I’ve made with my life.
“What did you want to do with your life before you got knocked up with noodle heads had kids?” my son asked.
I wanted to be a ballerina, a neurosurgeon and a literary professor. All at once. I was always very realistic with my goals.
“Did you always want to be a couch potato, supported by the hard-earned dollars of your very own sugar daddy?” my daughter asks.
No. But I’ve since readjusted my thinking on this subject. It’s much more fun to spend your dad’s money than working for my own.
“Don’t you want to be a real writer instead of a blogger?” they wonder.
No. I prefer the fake writing status I’ve mastered thus far. Cue rolling of my eyeballs.
While I love my kids and want nothing but the very best for them, sometimes I wonder if I should have worn that iron-clad chastity belt my daddy had made for me when I hit puberty.
I keep telling my kids that whatever they choose to do, they can accomplish with a little hard work. I want them to know that their future is unlimited as of right now. All doors are wide open for them. All they have to do is believe in themselves and grab the brass ring.
They generally roll their eyes at me and tune me out. I’m just not cool enough to pay attention to. Nipple rings and a few tats aren’t badass enough for them.
Sigh.
This weekend, it’s all gonna change. This weekend, I’m finally going to be cool in my kids eyes. Or die trying.
No, I’m not going bungee jumping or anything extreme.
I’m just going to be on t.v., talking about my boobs. If there is anything my kids respect at this age, it’s the power of the television.
This weekend, I’m gonna be a rockstar in my kids eyes, proving to them that if you believe in yourself you can do anything. Including suckering a national television producer into thinking you’re cool.
This weekend, I’m gonna bask in the glory of my thirty seconds of fame. I’m gonna use those thirty seconds to cram every bit of parental advice I can think of into my kids heads while they are still listening and paying attention to their cool momma.
We all know that fame doesn’t last and children have the attention spans of gnats. It won’t be long before all they hear when I speak is “waaa waaa waaaaaaa”.
So if appearing on television is what it takes to get my kids to take me seriously and their dreams seriously, I’ll do it. Because it sure beats running down main street naked with my ass on fire, which was my next idea.
***If you would like to watch me make a public arse of myself, tune into CNN Headline News (CNN’s sister station) and watch News To Me, this Saturday and Sunday. It airs at 730p, 930p and 1230a both days. Eastern time.***
****EDIT: For us Canadians, please check your local listing. The times are very different. Darn Yankees.****







Bennie
Alright, now you’ve one-upped me! Appeared on CNN news too? Check. Now I’m gonna have to do something really stoopid to get back on national TV. Of course there’s no way in Hades I wanna get on Fox News.
Way too go, Tannis!
Alison of a Gun
I saw you last night! It was before I had even read this entry, and I was like “Oh my gah! It’s Redneck Mommy!” and my boyfriend was all “Who?” so I made him watch too. I LOVE YOU!
Neil
Wow. And I bet the kids are proud. Research says that most kids today would rather be on TV for five minutes that make a million dollars.
Cool.
Barbara (aka Layla)
YOU TOTALLY ROCK! oK, I must be out of touch because I never heard of you until today. I’m sitting here with my pet rat on my head watching CNN and there you are! I immediately liked you and had to log on and say you did GREAT on the show…I bet this is the first of many!
Rock on!
Carrie
I almost spit out my Gatorade when I saw you a few minutes ago on News to Me! I had no idea my friend was so famous! Wait . . . of course you are! You kicked bootay in that segment, I loved it!
Mandy
I saw you, I saw you!
And I didn’t even know you’d be on.
My husband was flipping through channels, and I saw your segment. I told him to GO BACK, and I thoroughly enjoyed telling him, “I KNOW her!” ha ha! Though, I totally don’t. Very cool.
Neil
I just watched that on Headline News I usually read this blog about twice a week, but now that I saw the hotness, I will read this blog 4x a week. And I seriously thought all that “hottest mommy blogger” was just marketing.
But asking you to go “yee-ha” at the end was cheesy. What a stereotype. We all know you watch foreign films and read the Wall Street Journal when the doors are close.
Mom101
Ooh, headline news! If I were in one of those annoying hotels with only four cable stations I would totally have seen it like 16 times by now. Congrats.
And I love hearing about your kids in school who are just a few steps ahead of T, who starts Paste Easting 101 in the Fall.
moosh in indy.
DVR is set.
I’m going to be on FOX 59 in Indy.
la la la.
xoxo
Worker Mommy
CNN?! WOOT! Scared of you , T.
Dammit I seem to have missed it. Please promise me you’ll post it because yes I would very much like to see you make an arse of yourself.
P.S will you still have time for us peons now that you’re famous and all ?
Philly
Saw you and your boobs last night on the tube!!!
Vicki
DAMMIT!! I missed it!! Will someone please post a link to the video of it on the web. I can’t find it on CNN’s site. PUHLEEZ?????
kittenpie
Dammit, I missed the whole thing. You’re gonna post a youtube vid of it, right?
And you know, it’s a common reaction to exposure to hospitals and such at a young age to want to go into medicine, I’ve noticed among kids. And I include myself as well as those who’ve come into the library looking for information, having been derailed from libraries for years by that idea after a couple of operations. But I don’t think that it’s a bad place to come from, knowing the other side of the transaction. it could make for an uncommon degree of sensitivity towards patient and family concerns that I think the world needs more of.
gaining some lb's
#1 sent me the link to your fame. You look fabulous. Now you will be so famous that traffic on your page will be outta control. then what….i will be forced to start cursing and drinking more beer. Thanks…..in advance.
peace
#2
Joanna
I want to be A Rockstar