Parenting Teens

Selling out concerts, that is! Now that ugly rumors of 14-year-old Miley Cyrus’ pregnancy have proven to be a hoax, she can concentrate once more on her upcoming tour. Those pregnancy rumors that abounded online were found to spring from an altered story from J-14 magazine.

The story had been modified to contain a supposed quote from Miley, which read “I’m going to take good care of my baby, I’ve already gained seven pounds. I was in real shock when it happened accidentally, I went a little to [sic] far. I’m sorry to all of my fans.”

The magazine was quick to deny any involvement in the rumors about Miley. Editor-in-chief Janet Giovanelli said, “Miley is an intelligent, respectable role model for young girls, and we at J-14 pride ourselves on presenting our readers with credible stories and information. This story is completely fabricated!”

So, now that that nasty rumor is history, Miley is back to her tour. For those parents who may be asking, “Who the heck IS Miley Cyrus?”, she plays the fanatically popular Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel’s TV show of the same name. I took the time to watch a couple of episodes.

The show is fairly innocuous. Miley Cyrus plays Miley Stewart, a teen who leads a double life. By day, she’s an everyday schoolgirl. By night, she’s a pop star. Her father is played by Miley’s real-life dad, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Is this confusing enough for you? Good. I’d hate to be the only one!

The show has proven to be a big hit for Disney. Disney has been very successful at turning out teenage singer/actresses-Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff, etc. And, personally, I don’t find Miley any worse (or any better) than the rest of them.

And her show is, apparently, carrying over well to the concert stage. On her tour, titled Best of Both Worlds, Miley sings onstage as both herself and her Hannah Montana character. And the tickets are going like hotcakes! ‘Tweens and teens can’t seem to get enough of Miley/Hannah. Shows are reportedly selling out within minutes.

So, if you have kids who want to see the show, good luck getting tickets! If you have kids who are going to the show, and dragging you with them-try to relax and enjoy it! The best thing about Miley is that, at least, she’s a better role model for your kids than lots of others out there!

Miley Cyrus, Hanna Montana, Disney Channel, Best of Both Worlds, Billy Ray Cyrus

Coming up with fun summer activities to do with your kids changes a little when they’re teens or tweens. For the most part, they no longer like to do crafts with popsicle sticks or make their own treats with little faces done with raisins and cherries! It can be a challenge.

Family activities with teens can be fun for the whole family. So far, in the week-and-a-half that my 16-year-old daughter’s been out of school, we’ve managed to fit in two family movies-Shrek The Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Both were great movies, although I didn’t really like the third Shrek as much as I did the first two. We’re also looking forward to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and a few other movies which are coming out this summer.

Concerts are another great thing to do with teens. Find an artist or band you can all agree on seeing. If you never agree on these kinds of things, give a little. You might find that you enjoy some of the same music your teen likes! This Saturday, June 2, my daughter and I will be attending Starfest 2007, a concert presented by Atlanta radio station Star 94. Their lineup this year includes headliners Daughtry, as well as Dashboard Confessional and Augustana. I, personally, could do without Dashboard Confessional and Augustana. I love some of their songs, but am not particularly dying to see them in concert. I did become a big fan of Chris Daughtry during last year’s American Idol, though, so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing him.

Later this summer, we’ll be seeing last year’s American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks and, probably, attending this year’s American Idol concert. In the spirit of giving a little, she’s also accompanying me to a concert whose lineup includes Def Leppard and Journey.

We’ll be enjoying a two-week trip to visit my father, brother and sister-in-law, which is always fun for us. We get to lie around, relax, and just talk and enjoy one another’s company! My sister-in-law is big on antiquing, so we’ll probably do a little of that, as well. Trips to visit grandparents or other family members can be fun activities for teens, as well as younger children.

Summer’s also a great time to catch up on reading. We’re both looking forward to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and we’ve been to the library and stocked up for the next two weeks.

We’ll also be going on a couple of hikes with Dad and probably some short trips like the zoo and the aquarium, since we all love animals. Activities with teens can be a bit more of a challenge but, if everyone’s willing to give a little, they can be easier to find and a lot of fun!

[tags]Shrek The Third, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Daughtry, Dashboard Confessional, Augustana, American Idol, Chris Daughtry, Taylor Hicks[/tags

In an editorial titled Rockin’ on with the next generation in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Keith Still asks a question of interest for parents of teens and children of all ages.

What is an appropriate age for a kid’s first concert? I’m not talking about outdoor music festivals where the air’s relatively fresher and the decibel levels decrease as you move away from the stage, but acts that are playing in big indoor venues or small clubs? Does the size of venue or the age of the act change your answer?

Now, obviously this doesn’t apply only to teenagers. If a parent is really into music and enjoys going to concerts, they’ll probably take their kids to a few before they hit their teen years. Personally, I think that this, like many other things, depends not only on the act or the venue, but on the maturity of your kids.

When my daughter was not quite three years old, I took her to see “Barney the Dinosaur” in concert. She reminds me to this day that she turned out all right in spite of that dreadful experience! Of course, she doesn’t remember how hard she was laughing, clapping and singing along! However, I guess she’s entitled, as a teenager, to forget the embarrassing parts!

When she was 13, I took her to see Hanson. She had grown up right along with them and was dying to see them. Surprisingly, she still loves Hanson. She has seen them in concert three times now. She’s also seen Snow Patrol, Hinder and several others. She and I go to concerts together. The last concert we saw was last year’s “American Idol” winner, Taylor Hicks. We plan to see Chris Daughtry next month.

But, as some commenters to Keith Still’s question pointed out, it’s not really the bands or singers, but the behavior of the audience, which calls into question whether kids should attend. One mom recalled taking her 8-year-old son to a Jimmy Buffet concert and losing all credibility with him, when she tried to convince him that the haze of smoke hanging over the crowd was “just cigarettes”. There have been alcohol sales at some of the concerts my daughter and I have attended together-and some bizarre behavior by some of those who were drinking. However, so far we haven’t run into anything really bad.

So far, the question of her attending a concert alone with friends has not come up. When it does, I’m sure I’ll question her very closely about who’s performing, where they’re performing, who she’s going with, how late they’ll be out, etc., etc., etc. My worry is not so much the drinking or drugs. I know my daughter’s opinion of all that and I know her friends pretty well.

My fear is of how the other people at the concert will be acting-both with and without the benefit of alcohol and drugs. My question is not do I trust my daughter and her friends. It’s can they take care of themselves when faced by problems with other people.
I’d probably let her go, along with instructions to phone me at prearranged times and let me know she’s okay. After all, in less than two years she’ll be eighteen-not really much older, but able to go anywhere without my permission. I just wish I could trust other people as much as I trust her.

How do you feel about your teens and concerts? Do you attend concerts with them? Do they go to concerts on their own with friends? At what age do you think it’s appropriate for them to attend a concert? I’d really like some input on this question!

Snow Patrol, Hinder, Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry, American Idol, concerts, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

I was just reading a column in the local paper on our local radio stations, when I remembered a discussion I had with several other bloggers. Paul, over at Toybender, started it by mentioning that he had heard a Hanson cover of the song “Optimistic.” Several other bloggers chimed in with comments about not knowing Hanson was still around.

This struck a chord with me (pun not really intended), because my 16-year-old daughter and her best friend have been die-hard Hanson fans over these many years. Now, when they first started out I (probably like many others) thought they were three cute kid brothers who sang a catchy little song called “Mmm-Bop.” For a long time after that I never gave them any thought. Then, two years ago, my daughter found out their latest concert tour was coming to a city near us.

Despite my misgivings about spending several hours at a SRO concert filled with screaming teenage girls, I finally agreed to take my daughter and her friend. It turned out to be a significant event in more than one way. For one thing, I found out that those little kids from Hanson, having grown up somewhat, could do some really good rock covers (as well as some pretty good songs of their own). Not that they’re going to replace the Rolling Stones any time soon but then, nobody’s going to do that!

But the really great thing about all this (yes, this is what I’ve taken this long and winding path to tell you) was that myself, my daughter,and her friend all had a really good time together! I shared one of my daughter’s favorite things and had a really good time doing it! This taught me a few things about myself, both as a parent and as a person.

1) Be willing to try things with your kids that they enjoy doing. It may seem
like a big sacrifice in the beginning, but you might find out (as I did) that,
rather than a drudge, it will turn out to be something fun.

2) If there’s something you haven’t done in a long time, give it another try.
Even if you didn’t like it before, you may find it has changed or
(pleasant surprise) you may find that YOU have changed!

3) And, probably most important of all, you CAN learn things from your teen.
Although you’re the parent and, supposedly, the one with the experience
in most things, you’re still not too old to learn from your teenager.

Let me hasten to add here (just in case anyone who knows my daughter should run across Mom’s blog and, heaven forbid, think that Hanson is the only musical interest she has) that my daughter also listens to OutKast, The Killers, Aerosmith and John Mayer among others. We’ve developed a system, when we’re in the car, of taking turns choosing which CD or radio station to listen to. I’ve developed some great new musical interests, and I’ve developed a closer bond with my daughter.

What could be better than that?

music, teens, teenagers, Hanson, concerts