My Mom-ness on Youtube

            One of my sons recently told me to post a bunch of household tips on YouTube, for people his age (20s and 30s—Generation Y) whose moms didn’t teach them all the ins and outs of cooking, organizing, cleaning, laundry, etc.  He said I should call it

Your YouTube Mom

            Well, with four kids, being a mom is right down my alley.  Actually, being Mr. Rogers and creating a welcoming, cozy show for kids is even more down my alley, but I don’t change my shoes when I come home and I don’t put on a cardigan.  I also don’t talk to puppets, but I do talk to my pets and my plants, which reminds me to make that one of my tips for happy dogs and healthy flowers.

            Having hosted a TV talk show in Los Angeles a few years ago, I have to admit I’m more comfortable on camera than off, and since I once wrote a couple of books that addressed this same problem (moms not passing along age-old housekeeping and cooking wisdom), I decided to try it.  Bob whipped out the home video camera and we began wandering through the house as I stopped to explain, in 60 seconds or less, how to turn a dresser into a breakfast island, how to iron, how to chop an onion, and so on.

            And then I began my usual tirade (not on camera, thank you) about computer instructions no one but techies can understand.  It took me a day and a half to figure out how to locate and upload the files onto YouTube.  Yes, I have DropBox and Picasa, Twitter and Facebook, so I’m not a total cretin.  Okay, I am a cretin.  I hate technology.  Bob says one day he will die and folks will say, “It’s the strangest thing—her new boyfriend is so… so…” (they will be trying not to point out his dental and hygiene problems) and someone else will say, “But he’s a computer wiz,” and then everyone will understand the attraction.

            Finally we got the files loaded and I can’t wait to make more. I feel as if the whole world is my family and all its inhabitants my children.  How to fold towels, how to make a candle stand straight, how to store recipes, how to trim roses—soon I will have raised the entire planet and then maybe I’ll finally get some grandkids.  Sheesh. Oh, and by the way, the camera adds 40 pounds.

Check out my “Your YouTube Mom” videos at  http://www.youtube.com/user/jonimhilton  and share them with your friends.  Heck, even send them to your mother.  High time she learned the scoop as well.