Pop Culture and Our Family

So how can a family be Catholic, faithful, and still be part of or potentially part of Pop Culture?  Three years ago when we started coming to New York, we knew nothing about what the kids of this generation watched on T.V.   Our kids rarely watched T.V. and if we did it was something either from the  50's like "I Love Lucy" or "Leave it to Beaver"  or some movie that we purchased or rented parent approved.

So we were given homework.  Take a look at the Disney Channel and Nickelodean.  Boy, am I glad we never turned that on before!  The boys didn't care in the least about it but we kept on taking a look at "Hannah Montana".  Now, I wanna be nice here.  I really do.  So, I won't go into details about what I felt about those shows or any of the shows that we "researched".  But, I will say, "Boy am I glad we never got in the habit of watching anything Disney or Nick!" But our girls?  They loved it, begged for it.  They still beg for it.  Well, now we know who their target audience is!  And once in a while I cave.  And when I do, I cringe, panic, shut it off and tell the girls to like NOT watching it.   I say, "Your brothers grew up with nothing and we want you to both have that very same opportunity"   So Lily took to making up her own skits on imovie and photobooth with her sister.  She has a passion for acting and writing skits.  So even  my "mistake" has turned into a fun hobby that is creative and productive for the girls.  

Musically, we have not been strangers to what is out there currently or 30 years ago.  My husband brought that to the table and personally, I have never regretted it.  The boys always made great choices in the songs they covered.  And,  we always balanced it with classical music playing in the back round during school hours and also my favorite, gregorian chant; usually the kids' wake up call.  After all, our school is called Saint Benedict Academy.

So, the big question?  How do you mesh pop culture with a home schooling Catholic family?  This answer is you don't.  We've done our homework and  even after 3 years of the boys researching what is out there musically and media wise  they still make "blunders"  which , by the way, I am very proud of.

When the boys were out in California recently,  I got a call from my husband.  He said, "Marianne, the managers gave the boys homework."  "Oh, yeah?" I said.   "Yep."he says,  "While the boys were at the studio the t.v. was on and one of them mistook P Diddy for Kanye West."   I burst out laughing.  "Well, I guess they will have to study up.  Too bad they didn't ask them about the reign of terror, Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle, or bee keeping!
So, you can see that they aren't as meshed with pop culture as the average kid.  If anyone in the industry really knew the inside scoop about our family's daily inner workings they probably would be shocked! The boys recently had media training at the record label and after two days they were raving about the boys.  They said they were so refreshing and such gentlemen.  That was the biggest compliment anyone could say to  a mother.  Bigger than all of the compliments regarding their musical abilities.

Oh, yeah, now back to the big question. What about pop culture? Well, the boys have not meshed with pop culture and,  personally, I am glad of it.   And contrary to popular belief about the entertainment industry, nobody has tried to change the boys.  They like them the way they are.  That's why they signed them in the first place.  When L.A. Ried first saw the boys, he wanted to know what we do in Vermont to create this kind of magic.  Well it's not magic its just plain old faith, family,  living and loving life together.  And for us "good" is the new "bad".  And the magic that happens in Vermont? For us, it is the
'new" pop culture:)