American Idol and My Teen

When the holiday season ends, when the Christmas tree is long gone and the boxes of decorations are safely stored away in the attic, there is always a deflated, let-down kind of feeling. For some, the end of the holiday season can be doubly troubling because it also signals the end of the regular football season. But ever since the premier of American Idol in 2002, we stopped feeling let down. Why? Because in millions of homes across the nation it's common knowledge that when the holidays are over-the new season of American Idol begins!

From the moment that ball in Time Square reaches the top letting the world know that a new year has begun, a new countdown begins to the first show of the new season of American Idol. Watching American Idol has been a tradition in our household since it's conception. And one of the show's biggest fans lives here in my home-my teen daughter!

So this year wasn't any different from last year, or so I thought. Last night was the first show of American Idol which broadcast from the State of Arizona. At 7:55 p.m. I tuned in and anxiously awaited for the show to start-almost cringing to myself while waiting to watch wonderfully talented or horrendously horrible moments as this years first round of hopefuls auditioned.

As I settled in on the couch anxiously waiting for the show to begin, I called out to my teenage daughter, "Hurry honey, American Idol is about to begin!" No reply. I yelled out again to hurry because the show was starting...still no reply! I got up and went into our living room expecting to see my daughter tied up, bound and gagged. But she wasn't, instead I found her calmly sitting on the floor, her laptop in front of her on the coffee table, her homework next to the laptop, music playing from her I-Pod, the large television set turned on to the xBox which was paused on a game, and she was chatting on her I-Phone! Teens are excellent multi-taskers. She waved me away and I was a more than a little surprised that she would miss even one minute of her favorite show!

I mean, after all, this girl has not missed one moment of American Idol in the last six years. She has had the insight to choose either the winner or the one of the top three contestants each and every year. I impatiently waited for her to end her conversation before I questioned her on why she wasn't in the family room with me, waiting for American Idol to begin.

She calmly replied, "I don't feel like it." HUH?

"What do you mean, you don't feel like it? Are you sick?", I asked loudly.

"No, I just don't feel like watching it this year", she calmly replied and shrugged her shoulders.

I asked her again, "What do you mean, you're not interested in watching American Idol?"

She calmly assured me again that she wasn't interested in watching American Idol this year. I thought she was kidding. I returned to the family room where I would yell out to her quite a few times that she was missing our show. Nothing. She finally came in and watched five auditions then left the room.

I had to get to the bottom of this astounding new situation. Why in the world had she changed? What happened? Why didn't she want to watch American Idol this year? Why didn't she feel like it?

Stunned would be a proper adjective to describe how I felt watching the show alone. For the first time, I was more interested in watching American Idol then it's biggest fan. I couldn't believe my ears and the worse part of this situation was there was no reason. The show is on again tonight and I'll see what happens. I'll see if I can figure out what changed between last year to this year. I mean, my teenage daughter looked the same. She acted the same, albeit, she was a year older and was now 17. Her clothes were the same (which is usually a big clue into a teen's personality and changes that have occured). But I'm 48 so I reasoned with myself that if I were still interested, shouldn't she still be interested? The first year this show aired she forced me to watch it. How could she possibly not be interested in watching people make fools of themselves on national TV? What happened to my daughter?

Stay tuned, when I know, you'll know. Gasp!

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