This one's for you, Mom

Hello friends. Having decided that xanga is no longer the coolest of blogging hangouts, I have thought long and hard (i.e. it popped into my head on the 10-minute drive in to work this morning) and decided to abandon my xanga account and move over here with all of you cool people. Please bear with me, as I am not cool, and honestly doubt that anyone will ever read this. Except maybe my mom. If I told my mom I was writing things on the internet, she would be all over that like ugly on a Vera Bradley bag. (Admittedly, I would love to own one of those overpriced, so-ugly-they're-fabulous, diaper-bag-looking purses.) My mom seems to think that I am going to write the Great American Novel. If anyone has any tips on how to do this, please share because I have a feeling that no matter how many times I tell her that fiction is not really my thing, she still can't shake this notion that I am going to be the next Kurt Vonnegut or Mark Twain - albeit less cranky and not male. Ah well. Such is the nature of being a parent. You can never let go of those hopes and dreams you've harbored for your kid since she was six, even when said kid has gone on to become moderately successful in another career. These are the things I have to look forward to one day, now that motherhood is rapidly approaching on the horizon of my future: ceaseless worrying about whether or not the kid has packed a rain coat, constant concern bordering on irrationality, and keeping a deathgrip on the plans I have to live vicariously through my children, even when it has become blatantly obvious to everyone around me that there is no chance in Hades that my kid is going to become the next Chris Carrabba or Andy Warhol. Eh - what can you do? As aforementioned, I think it all comes with the territory. The minute that kid emerges into the delivery room, you lose all sense of rationality and immediately start formulating a plan for how the kid is going to get into Harvard and change the world. But my kid isn't coming for another few months, so I've got some time to think about these things. After all, I wouldn't want to settle for Harvard if Yale or Columbia has better art and music programs ...