A Twilight Tutorial for Moms (and Dads)

JeanneSager — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:33:00 GMT

If you see teenage girls running crazed through the mall today, step aside. If you're between them and their Twilight fix, they just might bite. I can't say I'd blame them.

Until recently, I thought I was all alone in the uber-dorky world of the over-16 Twilight obsession. Thankfully, our own Jen Chaney set me straight. There's a whole group of us out there - the Twilight Moms.

Most of us picked up the first vampire book as a means of escape. In today's economy, who doesn't need one of those? In my case, I hit up the "also recommended" list over at Amazon, then plugged Twilight into my library's inter-library loan system. I had no idea what was in store.

The short story? A girl gets sent to live with her dad in a small town in the rainy northwest. Bella Swan is cranky (wouldn't you be?) until she walks into school and sees Edward Cullen, the dreamboat she'll later learn is a vampire who has vowed off human blood. Along with the rest of his family, he sates himself on animal flesh so he can peaceably coexist with humankind. But coexisting with humans, attending high school with them, is not dating them. And that's what Edward Cullen wants with every inch of his being.

It is total schlock. It's sappy. It's ridiculous. And it is absolutely intoxicating.

I can't tell you one single reason why I am obsessed with Twilight. In my sane mom brain, I find the idea of a teenage girl dropping everything in her world for a sexy guy absolute abhorrent. I hate the idea of a girl putting herself in danger for a guy. But I'm all for a little mindless entertainment, and Stephenie Meyer is a talented author. She makes a teenage love story entertaining to the romantic in all of us. She weaves a story that makes moms forget the lock they'd put on their daughter's bedroom door AND windows if she was Bella Swan. She makes us wish our partners/husbands could glitter (sorry, you'll have to watch the movie - or better yet, read the books - for that one).

A mom herself, and a Mormon to boot, Meyer walks a careful line in the books. She's managed to land a loyal teen fan base without pre-marital sex or gratuitous cursing. Besides the taste for blood and a lead foot in the family Volvo, the vampires are veritable pillars of society.They're books a moms can feel comfortable buying for her daughter - if only because they can sneak it of her room for a late night read.

Image: StephenieMeyer.com

Strollerderby : Edward Cullen

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