Did you watch "The Middle" last night?
It's a very funny show with a great cast and even greater writing. In last night's episode, the parents realized their son, Axel, was spending a lot of time at his friend's house because the friend's house was cooler and the friend's parents were cooler than they were.
They started a campaign to become the coolest parents. They bought a pool table, bought cool junk food snacks to serve to their kids' visiting friends and said things to kids that they thought were the cool things to say.
Needless to say - it all back-fired. They practically went broke buying the snacks and had to hide out to eat dinner to avoid getting swarmed by hungry teens. The pool table ended up piled with junk. The 'cool' things they said blew up and caused trouble. And the bottom line was that they tried so hard to be cool that they forgot to be parents.
Parenting is hard work and takes some tough choices. When parents make decisions based on being cool - they'll fail every time.
I read about a mom who tried to be cool by tossing her car keys to her unlicensed, uninsured son so he could pick up his friends. He killed 2 of the friends in a crash caused by his careless driving. That "cool" mom is now in prison. Her son has yet to be sentenced but will never get overkilling his friends.
Parents need to make the best decisions they can - to support and safeguard their kids. Being 'cool' shouldn't even be a remote consideration.