XBox is making teenagers weird...

My son plays Rock Band on XBox, we have a virtual band called "Momma's Boyz", cute huh? You should see me in my virtual world, I have a tiny waist, cute little butt, good legs and boobs that sit up high on my chest~you know, where their s'pose to. I am slammin' as the saying goes. Oh, if I only looked like this in real life! On the other hand, that might not be such a good idea.

After creating my alter-ego avatar on Rock Band, my son summoned me to the basement to "jam" with him. I was shocked at how many songs from my g-g-generation were on the game. I couldn't help but remember being his age and riding with my mother in the car. We would listen to AM radio; she was a fan of Englebert Humperdink, Lou Rawls, Eddie Arnold, Frank Sinatra and Charlie Rich. After five minutes with her in the car I'd literally want to smash the radio (or my head) in if I had to listen to that crap one more minute! It was "old people" music and I wanted no parts of it.

On the other hand, my father liked country music. If you road with him you listened to Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams (uh...SENIOR) and other "twangers" I used to call them. Again, I would get frustrated after a time and since I couldn't whine, piss and moan to my father in the same manner I would my mother, I would make fun of the music by singing along with an exaggerated southern drawl until he shouted to me to "Be quiet!" It didn't matter which parent I rode with, all their musical favorites bugged me. It was supposed to be that way; all teenagers hated their parent's music, right?

So...how come my music doesn't bug my kids? How come my sons actually like my music? Seriously, what the hell? Furthermore, why does it bug me that my kids aren't bugged by my music? I feel something is off-kilter about that and XBox is to blame. My twenty-something and my 'tween love my music! We don't have any problems riding in the car together. If "Walk This Way" comes on the radio, we crank it up and sing along as if it were a version of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". I know if my mother had known the actual lyrics to "Walk This Way" it would've been banned from our house. But, there I am singin' it, loud and proud; with my sons no less. Am I a bad mother? I never pretended to be Mother of the Year material.

There are times when I cringe and hope my youngest doesn't understand the lyrics, but I know I'm delusional. I strategically cough or think of something important I have to say like, "You okay back there?" which requires me to turn down the sound during the more obnoxious or suggestive stuff~ "you ain't seen nothing 'til your down on a..." Yeah, you know the words,I know the words and I'm sure my son knows the words too.

Still, I do find it odd that we don't argue over the radio when we're in the car together. When I was a teenager the biggest family battles in the car were over what radio station we were going to listen to. My sons could care less. If this is a sign of the times, what does it all mean?

Okay, I'll admit I did like my mother's Elvis and Bobby Darren records and preferred to listen to Lou Rawls while we cleaned the house. I went with my mother to see Englebert Humperdink a few years ago and realized I knew every word to his songs; yep, all of them. The only time I ever liked my Dad's twangy country music was when he would get out his guitar and play. He'd sing, "Hey, Hey Good Lookin'" to my mother and she would smile. He would play Johnny Cash songs too; I must've liked them because I would sing along. I recall many other songs he would perform and our reactions to them; "Little Green Apples" made us cry. "Behind Closed Doors" would make my mother blush and my sisters and I smile to see them flirting with one another.

Today there isn't a whole lot of music that I don't like. If you listened to my iPod, you would hear Green Day, The Gypsy Kings, Pink, Dave Matthews, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, AC DC and so on. Then, sprinkled in the mix you would hear Dean Martin, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Lou Rawls, Englebert Humperdink... you get the idea. Did I say I hated my parents music? Hmm, I sure thought I did at the time. Maybe I just thought I was supposed to.

Note to self: It is a blessing to see my sons enjoy the music I do and to teach them the value of all styles of music. Maybe I'll get that Mother of the Year award yet! "Back stroke lover always hidin' 'neath the covers...," okay probably not gonna happen. :)