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Aaron Carter and My Inner Teen
Motherhood Doesn't Mean Saying Goodbye to Youth By Michelle Duncan
*TEENIE SHRIEK*
OK, now that I've got THAT out of my system...
There are few things in life that will garnish you more ribbing than being an adult fan of pop music. I'll never forget the day I came home with a denim Backstreet Boys jacket that seemed average enough – that is, until I flipped a switch in the pocket and fiber optic lights sequentially flashed BACK ... STREET ... BOYS across my back. I thought my husband was going to exchange it for one of those cute white numbers with the wraparound sleeves. My kids, however, think it's cool and, honestly, so do I. My inner-teen is alive and well it seems.
Aaron Carter recently played our local amphitheater. If you haven't heard of him, Aaron is the 14-year-old brother of my favorite Backstreet Boy, Nick. Chances are if there is a Teen Beat or a PopStar magazine around your house, you've seen him, even if you didn't know his name. I've been an Aaron fan for almost two years and have seen him live four times. He has a charisma about him that just amazes me.
My oldest son, Matthew, is 6, and we attend Aaron's concerts together. I've been lucky with seats, always getting us close, this time being the best with second row center. My sister, her husband and my 6-year-old niece had tickets as well, a few rows behind us. Since the amphitheater is part of a theme park, we planned on spending the day riding rides and then attending the concert.
We started our day by meeting up with two of my friends, Angela and Debi. (They had front row seats and, yes, that's me you hear grumbling a faint "next time...") The day was pretty standard: I rode roller coasters with Matthew, who did his first one with a loop (he hated it), ate kettle corn and goofed around – you know the drill.
Standard, that is, until my cell phone