Monday, February 28, 2011

For the Love of Justin Beiber

I know, you either love him or you hate him. But please, stay with me for a moment!

I waited a week before taking my 10 year old daughter Haley to the new Justin Beiber, Never say Never movie. I waited a week to go because I did not want to wait in long lines, and be a part of tweens and teens yelling his name! I am glad I waited. I took my daughter and her friend, after dinner, and yes we did get there early and were at the front of a small line. The theatre was full, but we had good seats and waited patiently with our popcorn in our lap and our 3D glasses on our heads!

Haley looked at me a few times and told me how excited she was. Once she held my hand and looked at me. I am sure she was thinking that she has the coolest mom EVER!


I will say that before sitting through this movie, I liked Justin Beiber. I would never take Haley's CD (like I have taken others) to listen to on my own. But, I think he is talented, cute, a good Canadian boy, and he seemed quite respectable. I hated that a year ago in Haley's school, if you said you liked Justin Beiber, you were not considered cool. Well with girl power and U Tube power, this year the girls can safely say if they like him or love him, and not be judged! All the boys seem to hate him, I think it is jealousy, but hey, what do I know or remember about being 10?



Haley's Justin Beiber Calendar

I can remember being a pre teen and falling in love with my first band, it was The Scorpions. When my brother went out, I would sneak into his room and listen to his 45 records and albums and I always went back to The Scorpions. I knew nothing about them, but loved their sound, and fell in love with the sound of drums!




The Movie started and I looked at Haley and her friend, I looked around at all the girls, the moms and dads, the few boys in the theatre. And everyone was engaged in what they were watching. I watched my little girl's first musical crush get bigger and bigger, and I was so happy I decided to bring her. I wondered how many times she would watch the video once we bought it (she watched her Shania Twain video nearly every day). And then as Justin Beiber blurred for a moment, I remembered being a young 12 year old girl and falling in love with Prince as I watched Purple Rain, over and over and over again. I literally memorized the whole movie!




The movie was good, it was insightful, it was thought provoking, but hey, in the eyes of a young girl it was simply....dreamy! When we were driving home, I asked the girls what they thought the Never say Never of the tittle meant, just to see if they got that part of the message of the movie. They got it......follow your dreams, don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something, when you want something work hard for it. Then came the question I was not expecting......

What was your dream when you were young?

Hmmm, do we have to talk about this, because if I tell you, then you will know that I didn't live up to Justin Beiber's movie motto? But maybe I will tell you and hopefully because you are only 10, you won't ask me why I didn't follow my dreams.

So I took a deep breath and I told them that I had two dreams. I wanted to be a writer, or I wanted to be a National Geographic Photographer. Then I waited for it.

But they were lost in their own thoughts and only sweetly acknowledged with an "oh really" response.

I was on a Justin Beiber high for 2 days, talking about him and the movie more than Haley! I am ok with that, I still like him, maybe even more after seeing his movie, which I am sure was the intent!

It left me thinking about my own dreams and why I didn't follow them. It got me to thinking and wondering what Haley's dreams would be. How will I encourage her to follow her dreams? How will I help her to see how important it is to make sure you have a dream and make it come true? I look forward to her having big dreams, I just hope that she learns, that dreams change, they take many forms, sometimes it feels like a lifetime before you make them come true! Sometimes those big dreams can shrink in size, they take dedication and hard work and support. That there is the key... support. The love and staying power of family and friends who will always have your back, always help you to remember who you are and always offer a hand when you fall.

All of this from a Justin Beiber movie! If you have a daughter, or a niece or cousin that is a Justin Beiber fan, offer to take them, just so you can see it yourself and if even for a moment, remember your first musical crush. Tell me, who was yours?

Thanks for reading,

Tannis

1 comment:

  1. My first musical crush was Corey Hart. My aunt made my older cousin take me to his concert when I was nine. I fell instantly in love, and, to be honest, he is the one artist that still has the ability to bring me to fits of school girl giggles. Then, of course, there was my NKOTB phase, and well, wooooo.

    My son actually loves JB, he is 8, and his Gramma took him to see the movie. Then, when we were out, he asked for a poster, which he proudly put on his wall. It's cute.

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