Ensuring that you're children are hip

I want to start this blog with a comment related to a previous posting. I just finished playing Red Sox Monopoly with my boys. Now, I was getting crushed. My eldest kept landing on Free Parking and had amassed a considerable fortune. I was nearly broke. But, I was happy. My child would feel good about the experience (and my competitive instincts were in check). (At this point my younger boy had quit). Then, (be still my beating heart) I made a tremendous come-back. I was avoiding the many costly properties that my boy possessed. I was gaining properties, making dollars (can you hear my pulse quickening through the computer?) There was a very good chance that I was going to make the most improbable of improbable comebacks (I'm not counting the Sox comeback against the Yankees in 2004). But I reined myself in. I actively sabotaged my efforts. When luck continued to go my way, I suggested that we count our money and declare a winner (My boy, as I mentioned, was in the black and easily won). Good stay-at-home fathering? I think so.
Today's posting relates to successful attempts to make one's children cool. Now, I'm coming at this from a radical angle. Obviously, every good parent loves his or her children. He or she accepts them for who they are, fosters their strengths, supports them with trouble areas. A parent (in this case, a father) should love his children for who they are. But that's not to say we shouldn't give them an edge. A hipper child, for lack of a better term, a cooler child will have an easier experience in life. But how to assure this coolness? I can only focus on my boys, but, luckily, they're very cool. Sure, they can occasionally act a tad immature, but they will grow out of this. They won't outgrow, however, the surplus of cool that I have been instilling within them since they were babies. How did I do this? I started with music. From the moment they entered our house, my boys have been inundated with cool music. I used to rock my eldest to sleep with the soothing beats of Jay-Z, Shaggy or Notorious BIG. I remember feeding my younger boy as U2 blasted in the background. One night last summer while my wife was still at work, the boys and I rocked out to the Jam at full blast. (The Jam, for those of you know not in the know, are the quintessential Ska band). Flight of the Conchords (an awesome band from New Zealand) is one of their favorites. K'Naan, the Somali rapper, is my boys' current favorite. The point is I started with cool music, and this somehow spread to the coolness of my boys. Next, I started to subtly infuse my discussions with my boys with cool phrases (My eldest boy just turned to me and, referencing the Fantastic Four, said, "dad, how did they get so dope?" My youngest started referring to things he liked by saying, "rocking, baby" or "funky, momma" (said with just the right inflection to be both cute and cool). So, the infusions of coolness started with music, spread to language, and then, subtly, began to infiltrate my boys' whole approach to life. I added some cool clothes. Patriots jerseys, Red Sox gear, and soccer jerseys. Recently, my eldest went out with my wife to buy new shoes. He came back with a pair of Adidas. Brand name shoes! What could be cooler?!?!! He never used to put any consideration into his shoes. A grand new era of coolness has begun. My sons' gait (this is particularly true of my eldest) has developed a definite swagger. He had always been popular at school, but began receiving multiple calls from girls. (I realize that this is inappropriate for second graders, but come on, it's cool).
Now, I know that there are many readers out there who like less cool music (read: folk or country), don't like sports, and would prefer Birkenstocks to Nike Airs. Feel no fear. Not all is lost. The key to a child's success lies in a healthy ego developed by love, support, structure, and consistency. A child's success should be every parents' goal, but why not help a successful child be a cool one, too?