Parenting with Disney

I was checking all my friends' blogs this morning, as I do every morning. (Get up, get dressed, wake the girls, weigh myself, let the dog out, pour the mini-wheats and OJ, read emails/Facebook/blogs -- I am all about routine.) One of my friends has a blog titled "The Other Side". Every time I see that, I hear Miley Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana, singing in my head for the next hour: "The other side . . the other side . . the other side of me . ."

This annoys me because that's one of my least favorite of her songs. But it also appalls me how ingrained Disney Channel tunes are in my psyche. I had a friend once who believed that McDonald's was Satanic because her baby reacted to the golden arches before she was even able to digest a french fry. Well, Disney's got it all over Micky D's. If I allowed it, my kids could be saturated in Disney from the moment they wake up to Hannah Montana on the radio until they go to sleep at night in their High School Musical pj's.

As I said, s-s-s-satanic.

However, I remember my pride one particular Halloween when Leslie was a young thing. Keith went with her to pick up her friend next door to go trick-or-treating. He greeted Danielle by saying, "Oh! You're Sleeping Beauty!" Danielle's mom was amazed that Keith could distinguish his Disney princesses. Of course he could. Sleeping Beauty wears a pink dress -- blond hair, worn down around her shoulders.

At work, about the same time, Keith and some colleagues were discussing a new woman who someone said looked just like the girl in Aladdin. Keith nodded knowingly and said, "Jasmine." The other guys cracked up -- they thought it was hysterical that he actually knew the name of the girl in Aladdin! Well, of course, he did. He had two daughters under 8.

That's something that has always made me proud of Keith. He pays attention to his daughters' world. If it's important to his girls, it's important to him. That's one characteristic of a good daddy. Contrast this with my father . . who was truly a great man in many, many ways -- but I'm not sure he would have recognized most of my good friends if he saw them on the street, much less have accurately called them by name.

So, maybe it's OK that I hum Disney tunes in my head all day. At least I know what my kids are watching and listening to. And to be honest, Miley Cyrus is pretty good, and getting better all the time (LOVED her new song they premiered last night).

And at least we're past the stage of Teletubbies. And the Big Comfy Couch. And the Wiggles. Ew. Creepy . . .