I have to say when I first watched the Anna Banana PLDT commercial I thought “That’s cute…” I appreciated the fact that the bottom line was that a mom would do anything for her child. In this instance, up the views of her son’s song video on youtube.

Upon 2nd and then 3rd viewing I thought “Well, that’s ridiculous! He’s not any good… What if he were to feel so confident that he got 100 views that he would think to sing this to the girl or out in public? How would he feel when people began to laugh at him because let’s face it this ain’t a movie and he would be booed or shouted at or who else knows.”

Then I got to thinking, what should a parent do? I have a son around that boy’s age and I feel (now, this is just my opinion) that I would be honest if he asked me if he was any good. I wouldn’t be cruel and say he sucked but I would probably in a gentle manner as possible tell him that maybe singing isn’t really his thing BUT if it was something that he wanted to do that I’d be behind him all the way (although in my mind I’m imagining I’ll be in front of him ready to kick the first person that laughs!)

I’d have to tell him what could happen and let him stew on that for a bit. Now I’ll probably have people say that I’m not letting him develop his confidence or I’m being a mean mom. My technique is to be honest and factual. I draw from my own experiences. I wouldn’t want my mom to let me make a fool of myself. I imagine I would say that there are probably better and more talented ways to get the message across.
It made me remember that film Little Miss Sunshine when Olive was rocking it on stage. Her parents cheered her on through that humiliating ordeal but I wonder if they had known just what she was going to do if things would have been different.
I guess the lesson learned there is that family loyalty won’t save you from the humiliation but it’ll make sure you won’t walk off that stage alone.