Battle with Dorkiness

There seems to be a phase that all, or at least most, children go through between being a small child and reaching their teens. It is when they become aware that some things are cool, and some things are not and they desperately shoot too high trying to reach for the 'cool' mark... and miss it by a mile. It's a very awkward time. For some it last longer than with others, and for me I spent more years in this phase than I'd like to admit.



A few years ago I noticed that my oldest child had entered this phase. Since she was just a baby this girl was brimming with self confidence, the monarch of social butterflies! It was a gradual change, but one day I realized that she, in her desperate plight to be cool, became quite uncool... I remember saying something about this to my sister, who at that time was reading a book series that she thought related this phase that I was talking about and called it, "the Uglies," according to this book series. I have to disagree, though. Ugly wasn't a name that I would ever call my child. I still thought that she was quite pretty, just awkward and well, dorky. Now I don't like to force my opinion of what is cool or uncool, pretty or not, etc. on my kids, so I cringed when she would watch High School Musical or Hannah Montana, and tried to model herself after her Disneyfied heroes. Besides, it was only my opinion that these were uncool... I couldn't see any moral problem with her liking these things. I told myself that this was just a phase. Some day she would deny ever liking these things, just like I did with Debby Gibson and the New Kids on the Block. If you ever ask, the answer is NO, I've always been way too cool to like those losers!

I am happy to say that my daughter spent a much shorter time in the dork phase than I did. She has now moved on to the, "My mom is so embarrassing," phase. Hello! Now she thinks I'm the dork! Maybe I came full circle, or deluded myself into thinking that I actually left that phase! Whatever the case I am who I am.



Now I have recently come to the conclusion that my son has entered the dork phase. He has always been a little ham. He could get a room full of adults laughing with next to no effort any time, a natural clown. Lately his jokes completely miss the mark. I feel bad not laughing, but it's just not there anymore... he tries too hard and misses.

Last night I brought my kids to their school carnival where my son & youngest daughter spent most of their time in the disco room. My son still made me giggle with his crazy dancing skills, flailing his arms & legs like some kind of psycho. Then this Gummy Bear song came on (you may know it) and he went NUTS! Oh my!

When we (finally) left the disco room my son ran down the hall to this very pretty little girl with shiny, long, brown hair and said, "Guess what song they just played in the disco room! ..." then he broke into song and dance, in a very high pitched & un-masculine voice, arms & legs flailing, and to my surprise this girl joined him! Singing and dancing with him! At this I just had to grin and think, "Well, maybe there is still hope for him yet." Who am I to say what's cool anyway? ;)