"Mom, I like Justin Bieber."
I turned my head around faster than Linda Blair in The Exorcist. "WHAT???" Oh crap! I'm driving a car. My eyes go back to the road.
"What do you know about Justin Bieber?" I say scrutinizing her in the rear view mirror.
"I don't know what he looks like, but I like his music," she responds.
"How did you hear his music?" I'm dumbfounded.
"A---- at day care had it on her MP3 player."
"Isn't A---- like 6-years-old?" Now I'm even more dumbfounded.
"Yeah... I don't know what she's doing with an MP3 player." Phew! At least my daughter is still on my side about that issue...
"What song did you hear?" Oh Lord...
She then proceeds to sing Baaby, Baaby, Baby OOOHHH
Okay, I can handle this. It's just a song. No big deal. I cautiously surrender and we talk about the rest of her day. But then the next day...
"MOM! Today I saw the Justin Bieber video on Youtube!"
"WHAT?!" I BECOME Linda Blair from The Exorcist.
"Daddy put it on for me." Great... I'll deal with that later.
"Let me see the video," I say.
Girls are appropriately dressed. Check. NO bumping and grinding. Check. NO explicit lyrics. Check. An old school dance off. YAY! Puppy Love... not crazy about exposing her to that, but I guess it's time to start introducing the topic (why can't it be as easy as introducing solid foods?)
Here come's the mama talk...
"Okay, Jas. I don't mind you watching this video, but as long as it's not every day, all day. I don't mind you liking Justin Bieber's music, as long as you stay away from becoming so attached to him that he's all you think about. There are a lot of girls out there who wake up thinking about Justin Bieber, go to school and all they think about and talk about is Justin Bieber. Then they start looking for boys who look like Justin Bieber and at night, when they go to sleep they dream about Justin Bieber."
Flashback to 1982
"You know, if Justin Bieber inspires you to become better at something, then it's a good thing. Like when I was a little girl, I used to spend hours dancing so I could move like Michael Jackson. Because of him I became a better dancer. I learned about how he wanted to excel at everything he did and I was inspired to try and attain the same high standards. He made me think about the rest of the world and helping others. But all that other stuff I just talked about with the screaming and crying and carrying on is nothing but a distraction from you becoming the best you can be. A little bit of Justin Bieber is okay, but too much is just not good." I should know!
"Mom, it's just a song!"
"Until you go to school and start hearing all of the other girls talking crazy talk about Justin Bieber. You don't want to become one of those girls. I'm just sayin'! "
A box!
"Jas you have to trust me on this one. Imagine you have a box on top of your head and the lid is wide open. As long as that box is open, my job is to put as many good things in there as I can because one day, you are going to slap my hand away and close that lid. Then I'm going to have to wipe my hands clean and say 'my job is done'. You are going to make mistakes, but it'll be okay because I know I've put good things in that box of yours and you'll eventually remember all that is in there and get back on track. But for now, let me do my job."
"Ohhh I get it. You're just making sure I won't do what everyone else does and get crazy about Justin Bieber."
"Exactly." Whoa, that smile feels pretty big on my face. Wait a minute..."Do you know where Daddy is?"
