Why your parents aren't cool

It's 10 in the morning, and we're walking as a family to the bagel place.  I guess you can say we're doing our usual "Sunday" morning routine...cause there's not swimming lessons today at 11 so it's not a typical Saturday.  I'm wearing a long sleeve top that doesn't match with the shirt I've paired it with.  And my hair is tied up in a ponytail like a lazy teenager.  But I don't care, cause I've got AJ in a back carry position now in my Beco, and I'm super proud of it. He likes it better and it's better for my back. We stroll into the bagel place feeling like a million bucks while I precisely order exactly what we order every time I go there, and the lady behind the counter coos over the chunkster on my back.  A gentle ray of sunlight filters in from the outside and grazes over the top of my son's head.  I marvel at the beauty of this moment and wonder how I knew life before this precious little man became part of it.

While waiting for our bagels to toast, I walked to the magazine stand that held a variety of local magazines.  I spy a copy of Portland Monthly whose cover promises to disclose about the top 10 restaurants in 2013 in Portland. Enticing. I thumb through it, only to find that I don't know ANY of the restaurants mentioned.  This makes me pause.

Am I that far removed from the world I used to live in?  

I should start by saying that before my son, my husband and I were foodies.  We knew ALL the great places. We knew all the new places.  And if there wasn't a place we've been to, well then it was certainly on our list for that weekend. We knew what was hip, what was cool, what was hot.  It's been 7+ months since I've (we've) thought much about food.  Aside from cooking ourselves that is.  I must admit, since AJ's arrived, I've dramatically increased my recipe bank, and began making things I'd never dreamed of cooking without my mommy holding my hand. As much as I love eating out, we just aren't able to keep up with the new restaurant scene developing in Portland. And I just don't care that much about it anymore. Maybe I'm just not cool anymore, now that I'm a parent and my priorities have dramatically shifted. 

And that's when it hit me.  Find me a kid who hasn't once said that their parents aren't cool.  And then smack him silly.

Because guess what, kid.  Your parents aren't cool.  Because of you.