Best of Both Worlds

Today's hot topic- Miley Cyrus' Vanity Fair photo shoot; here's an AP New Story link which quotes carefully crafted comments from publicists who are doing their jobs well, in creating these curiousity quenching headlines for their clients. As the parent of a soaking sponge of a 6 year old, I am seeing Miley's appeal seeping into my own set of circumstances.

Miley and the character she plays on TV are poised between two worlds, both the girl and her sitcom caricature innocently unfolding with mature confidence and an easy going smile. She balances out the Cyrus family name's blips on the radar of fame- her explosion countering (and reviving) her one-hit wonder dad, Billy's achy breaky 60 seconds. Young Ms Cyrus' stance, in this sensationalized situation is respectable, the fact that it is happening- completely expectable. She is getting older and the fans keep getting younger, because there are always new recruits to the army of Hannabees, a Disney "attraction" aimed at a specific demographic. G is on the youngest side of the fanbase of an aging act. In my role as mommy I am pulled to monitor and (attempt to) control the influence of G's exposure.

Watching an aspect of Miley's entrance into adulthood on the great stage of fame, I connect with her- I empathize with the vulnerability that she shows in the offending portrait. As an occasional reader of Vanity Fair, I am drawn to the story and I find myself siding with VF's desire to capture and portray Miley's moment of perfect balance- between adolescence and adulthood. Balance and the best of both worlds is what we all seek as we experience the life that happens while pursuing happiness. I want to see what Annie Liebowitz saw through her lens and digitally depicted. In my role as woman I am drawn to run out and get this magazine as soon as it hits the stands (consumer that I am) and read all about it!

As so many of us do I also get to balance my two worlds- currently that means being a socially productive worker and a fun fabulous family mommy. I am looking forward to an adventure with my daughter as we go to the library to gawk at and peruse the glossy pages together (sharing her exposure, but not shielding her from it!) AND I get to feel like a responsible adult for saving a little room in the landfills (and my-working-girl-self a few dollars). I guess I'll have to buy something useful and necessary that is advertised on the pages of Vanity Fair to balance it all out, so all the publicists involved in the photo spread that is focused on Miley Cyrus' bare back will be happy. I do feel a bit manipulated by this whole circus and all the media's "reporting" (read: "advertising") ...

I do get the best of both worlds.

Turn on your speakers if you are viewing my blogsite directly a balanced selection of the progression of Miley's sensational singing should be playing now. Country with dad, Disney's Hannah and the song I felt she was way too sexy performing on AI Gives Back a couple weeks ago. (here's a link to that playlist, current music has been changed!)

Grace's First Performance

In 2 weeks Grace (and about 100! other little girls) will perform at the gymnastics Winter Extravaganza. She is so excited!

We, her doting parents, almost ruined the whole thing! We forgot to enroll her, thinking the other did. I cried all morning (ok- PMS!) after they told me she couldn't be in it. She- big brave girl that she is- sniffled, shed a tear or two and said, "Maybe next year?"

Then just an hour ago they called and said they could fit her in! Now to find a holiday leotard...

I'll take video- I think I have figured out how to upload it. Or maybe I'll get that new camera I asked the universe for. Let me tell you, the universe can be slow to respond- even when candles are involved.

Boy I gotta consolidate my online presence. Not like the three of you don't read all three of my blogs, would make it easier if I wasn't all over the place, huh? Well that's just my "-ness." My "Tiffanyness". What's your -ness? (And what movie or show did I get that from, I can't remember!)

Choreographed Mayhem

Lately Grace has been just full of energy and Shawn and I are totally zapped. This has resulted in too many snappy admonitions to "Settle down", and lots of frustrated, whiny, complaining behavior- and Grace's behavior isn't so great either.

We had a serious talk tonight about where we want to go as parents and how we are not doing the things we want because the lines are so blurred between work, play, homelife, learning, friends, chores, relaxing and family. We are always trying to do it all at once, work never ends and neither does playtime they just fit in around each other. This seems idyllic- it's not working out that way. As in many things, the "ideal" in practice isn't a workable situation.

I had a moment today where I felt left out, not wanted and it made me sad. Even though I truly did have something else to do I wanted to be included in what I thought I was being excluded from. It made me identify with my darling daughter. She is living that life. Although the big grand world has so much calling to her, wanting her to explore and play and discover- she wants to be included in everything we do.

It is such an uncommon thing to have both parents home almost all the time- neither of us ever HAS to be anywhere without her, and although I have been concentrating on how proud I am that she has gotten comfortable enough to be left at her classes and activities, I think I missed how spoiled she is becoming. And we have no one to blame but ourselves.

So tonight we decided to get back to parenting the way we think we should instead of reactionarily (I can so make up words if I want to!)- and one of the things we decided is missing is family silly play time. Grace was just bouncing off the walls and we were climbing up them- so we decided to choregraph a terrific fight scene (she wanted to use the light saber and do a Star Wars theme to match her new T-shirt, but it was slightly unwieldy). After lots of giggling, a few misplaced blows and the perfecting of a 5 move routine Grace happily skipped upstairs for her story with only one whiny plea of "one more time".

Grace had always been so well-behaved and then this past 6 months she has started becoming a little crazy, a little over the top- where once there was enthusiasm, it seems now there is a psycho attention monger. And as much as I do in the name of homeschooling, I think I have been missing the boat too often trying to juggle so many things.

Into every life a little order must fall... this sounds familiar, have I written this very blog before? Am I reliving the same day over and over until I get it right, like that one X-files episode or the Bill Murray movie? Only in real life you don't get to stop aging and the rest of the world keeps going too, until you wake up one day and your child is married and you have a houseful of unfinished projects.

Maybe it's just PMS talking... maybe I'm just crazy. Or more likely I am living through having a 4 year old in a mixed up world full of imperfect people and too much information.