“Smile, like you’ve got nothing to prove. No matter what you might do, there’s always someone out there cooler than you. 
I know that’s hard to believe, but there are people you meet – they’re into something that is too big to be expressed through their clothes.”
– Ben Folds, “There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You”

If I had one song lyric to share with my kids, this would be it.
True, the song also includes reference to beer and uses several curse words, but I think the message is important. Also, Ben Folds is brillant.

I had a pretty good high school experience overall, not because I was popular (I was NOT), but because I didn’t care. I think I learned about halfway in that there’s always someone cooler than me.

“Now that I’ve got the disease, in a way I’m relieved
Cause’ I don’t have to stress about it like you do.
I might just get up and dance or buy some acid washed pants
If you don’t care then you got nothing to lose”

It is a huge relief not to do things because you wonder how it’s going to look to your peers, or how it will affect your social standing. Now, to authority figures and people who were my actual friends, it’s always been a different story. I am definitely a people pleaser in that regard.

Then again, that’s what makes this song remain important, even now!

I need to remember this as much as ever now that I’m a mom. I’m never going to be the coolest mom or the hippest, or whatever. My children will most likely not do calculus at 3 years old, or even read early or be super artistic.

I hope that they are original, and that they don’t fear the opinions of people who don’t matter.

Rock on, Ben Folds.

This post is a part of the Bloggy Mom’s Writer’s Workshop.