It became an all too common occurrence in our household:
“Hey Mom! Watch me whip!”
“One sec, hon—oh wow, look at you go! Kill it!”
“Now, watch me nae nae…”
“Ah, y’know, I’m sorry sweetie, but I have to run errands before work tomorrow!”
“Watch me, watch me…”
“I’d REALLY love to, hon, but I have to finish making dinner. Let’s do it tomorrow, okay? I promise.”
Tomorrow would come, same conversation, with a different excuse. I convinced myself that someday, somehow I would have time to watch all three of my children both whip and nae nae. Yet between running my own small allergen-free bakery and caring for my sick mother, I could never seem to make time for both the whip and the nae nae. Some days (I’m ashamed to admit), it was neither.
Unfortunately, my “aha” moment came with my mother’s death. Her last words to me were, “I’m so sorry… sorry I never watched you do the entire electric slide.”
It dawned on me that my children were becoming proficient in the dance craze of their generation and their mother was not properly bearing witness to it. It was just like that Cat Stevens song, but with more stanky leg.
After Mom’s funeral, I decided that for five minutes every day, no matter what, when my children say, “watch me, watch me” I would answer with a resounding: “Okay! Kill it!” and “Can You Do it?!” just as the song instructs.
Making whipping and nae nae-ing a daily priority in our family has made a big difference: The kids are doing better in school, my allergen-free bakery is booming, and my husband and I are having more sex than ever.
No one on their deathbed wishes they’d worked more, but many on their deathbed wish they had watched their kids Dougie, Crank That Soulja Boy, and Macarena in totality. Don’t wait for your kids to be grown and these dance trends to be obsolete! Take the time now to take an active role in your child’s participation in the latest dance sensation and it will pay off in spades.
And remember: If you have bad parenting habits, break ’em, break ’em, break ’em dog.
