Early in the morning on October 5, I got a call from a producer at "Inside Edition" asking if I was the woman who wrote the blog "Confessions of an IT Girl." Fame at last. Yes, yes I am. I had written a blog on my futile attempts to get Hannah Montanta concert tickets for my daughter, and they wanted to interview me about how tickets had sold out like hotcakes and kids and parents alike were getting very disappointed to find tickets selling for hundreds over the face value.
Sure, I said. Bring it on. And so the adventure began.
I detail it in all its glory in an entry on "Confessions of an IT Girl", but here's the main parts of what happened.
The cast of characters on my end were me, my 8 year old daughter, and my husband. My daughter's best friend was there also, with her mom. My 1 year old son had the good fortune to pass out and was blissfully asleep in his crib.
The main event begins when the camera crew shows up. It was 7:30pm, 3 hours later than planned due to their covering developments with Marion Jones in White Plains. When they show up, I meet Holly, the very nice AP who has a camera and sound guy with her. Everyone is very pleasant. As they begin setting up, I panic, which seems to be my mode for the day. Why am I doing this? Is this some perverse desire for fame for me, or worse, my kid? Have I become the Dina Lohan of Ardsley? Am I selling her out in an effort to make her the next Britney Spears? Do I really think I could get Hannah tickets out of this for my daughter? Having my husband scowling in the kitchen helps matters not at all. I settle down with the knowledge that it’s just a fun thing for the girls to do. Heck, maybe it will help my blog traffic. Maybe we get tickets out of it for the girls somehow. How bad could this be?
As Holly asks questions and directs our answers, I realize that she’s hoping I’m going to get mad…really mad. Screaming irrational psycho parent kind of mad. And I’m really not that way. Yes, I’m disappointed I didn’t get tickets. She keeps saying that parents are suing Ticketmaster, that tickets are going on some sites for up to $3,000, doesn’t that make me MAD? Well, yes and no. Mad at the scalpers for finding a way to do that. Mad at Ticketmaster that I’ve been buying concert tickets for 25+ years now and this keeps happening. Not mad at poor Miley Cyrus, who seems like a decent enough kid who really doesn't deserve any of our anger.
Then the producer starts refering to a web article that lists something about the Missouri AG who is suing Ticketmaster alleging fraud, and Ticketmaster suing some ticket broker who has found a way around their systems. All of which, unfortunately, is news to me. I wish I had done my Hannah homework, but I didn't. Having failed with me, Holly turns to my daughter. Now, whose who know Little IT know that she’s no shrinking violet. However, when the camera turned on her, she became quiet and shy. They really tried to work in some questions that could be answered coherently, but Little IT didn’t give them much to work with. C’est la vie. Her friend is more articulate, but still, she's 7, so what she says is the voice of a little kid.
They then decide to get some other shots for B roll footage- the girls dancing in front of the TV to a Hannah Montana DVD, the three of us doing homework at the dining room table (look out for the Dummies product placement here), and the girls putting on their identical Hannah Halloween costumes in Little IT’s bedroom. Holly made the girls repeatedly say how much they love Hannah and, in unison, “Hannah Montana, please help us.” I start feeling a little icky and look at the mom of the other girl. She with one look says I don’t need a shower, and it’s kind cute. I worry that I am exploiting my child, who has no concept about boundaries, and isn’t that what I am there for? To stop the madness. I don’t, thinking if it’s really all that bad, one of us would have stopped me.
After everyone leaves, my husband says that they’ll never use any of the footage, because I didn’t get screaming mad on camera and he was proud of me for that. Awww…that made me realize that I probably was doing the right thing all along, and if my moral compass really was challenged, I wouldn’t have let it go that far.
The story aired last night. My daughter had her piano lesson at the time the show aired, so I taped it. Not only for that reason, I was concerned that if they edited it to make me look crazy or the girls come out as spoiled brats (which they are not), I could prevent her from watching it. In the end, it was all good. It was a respectful treatment and the girls looked adorable. We were not taken advantage of, and for that I thank "Inside Edition." They were true to their promise of the story, and it came out to be a win win for all of us. The girls were so excited to see themselves on TV. The other mom still has the dream that somehow someone will come through with tickets for us. I’m kinda past thinking about that, unless another show gets added to the schedule.
Overall, what did I learn? I’m still pondering that. I guess because my motives for doing the appearance were never solidified, I don’t feel like I accomplished any goal. If they did end up getting tickets, great. But as I emphasized to the producer, we didn’t get tickets, but life goes on. There will be other things for her to get excited about. It wasn’t the end of the world then, and it certainly won’t be now.
]]>I'm here to tell you to listen the call and step up. There's nothing quite as rewarding as being involved in your child's life, and as corny as it is, you do get back much more than you give. I'm proud of the fact that I work for an employer that gives me the flexibitiy I need to do my job effectively while keeping things functioning on the home front. Even so, I'm not going to be able to be at every school function, every Brownie meeting or even every soccer game. So how can I contribute?
The best piece of advice I can give to any parent, but especially a working one is to find something that you can do that will serve a need. Some task that is unique to your skill set and may not be to others. Take Brownies - they meet on Thursdays after school. That's one of my worst work days and I am rarely home before 6pm. I thought, how can I help the troop when I can't make the meetings? For one thing, I could take over emailing responsibilities for the troop. One less thing for the leaders to do. Doesn't have to be done at the meeting. Can be done on my time.
What about a blog? Great way to keep track of upcoming events, and for parents to review what happened at past meetings. I can work in this with my daughter, and maybe there's a techno badge that Girl Scouts offer that she can qualify for. Maybe we can turn this over to the whole troop to contribute to. So many options.
I was team parent for AYSO last year, and every week I sent an email with the place and time of the practice session and the game, as well as what jersey the kids were supposed to wear. Parents told me that they came to rely on those emails and found themselves unable to function without them. I like when I can set the bar high.
So I challenge all parents out there - do one more thing for the kids than you did last year. I gurantee you won't regret it.
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