Hannah Montana

There are still some things that my daughter doesn't feel too old to enjoy--turning 13 didn't make her stop doing EVERYTHING she did when she was 12! :) She still enjoys some of the shows on the Disney Channel--she used to love Lizzie Mcguire and was a big Hilary Duff fan--then she discovered Hannah Montana and is now a big fan of Miley Cyrus. She watches the show a lot, and I actually enjoy it, too. It is kind of neat to see Billy Ray Cyrus in the father role--his image has really changed with this show. Yes I remember the mullet days and "Achey Breaky Heart"--but I will admit that I shed a tear or two when he recently sang a song to his daughter called "Get Ready, Get Set, Don't Go." As he sang about watching his little girl grow up and follow her dreams, I knew exactly what he meant when he showed hesitation in letting her go. We want our kids to dream big and have no limits to those dreams, but it sure is hard to let go of their hand so they can begin their journey. As the mother of a daughter in today's society, it is impossible to ignore the monumental influence that celebrities have on today's youth. I won't name names, but we all know which "teen idols" began as cute preteen girls and turned into, um...well...you know--something that NO parent wants their daughter to emulate!! I don't want to preach from a soap box right now, but since when did strippers and prostitutes become the role models that girls should follow?!!! How many parents would like to see their beautiful little girls grow up to be like that??!!! SO--as a mother, I am always aware of these influences and interjecting the fact that THEY are NOT women to emulate!!! Now--so far, Miley Cyrus has been a great example to girls--I REALLY like some of the things she has said about this issue. However, she is still young and only time will tell. Hopefully she will continue to stand up for herself and not fall prey to all of that. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders and has good parenting to back that up. Oh, by the way--we are NOT attending the Hannah Montana concert--didn't even bother looking up the ticket prices because even the low prices seemed steep to me. Same thing happened when Hilary Duff came to town--I just can't justify spending so much money on something like that. So--we'll just watch Miley on television--the show is really kind of cute, and I just love when Dolly Parton guest stars. I don't know if my daughter will continue to watch it for years, though--guess we'll just enjoy it for now and hope everything continues on this sweet and innocent path. Hannah Montana rocks! :)