e-mailing with an old college friend who i adore. she has two kids under 10. she and her husband went to see laurie anderson. i thought, how cool is that? i asked her, d'ya think our kids will ever appreciate how cool we are in comparison to other parents? her response i think is appropriate for all parents to read and understand. (and lisa, if you are out there, i hope you aren't mad that i am quoting you verbatim.)

“We've decided that we really don't want our kids to know how cool we are until they're all grown up — because they will have this biological compulsion to rebel against us, if we're too cool, they'll just have to go that much farther to rebel. We're afraid if we're too cool, they'll end up liking country music, finding Jesus and joining the military. And that, my friend, would send me over the edge.”