Make the Best of It

"Who killed Tupac?" my oldest son, Peyton, asked me before school.

I was busy rushing around making breakfast, making lunches, yelling at kids to "get dressed" and checking email.  The Tupac Shakur question was something I did not see coming.

"Well, from what I can remember he was shot," I said.
He seemed unsatisfied.  He wanted details.  Fortunately, his little brothers came running into the room screaming and fighting and provided some ample distraction.

As a parent, you have to be on your toes, man.  You have to be at the ready for all kinds of questions.  And you better be ready for the answers to lead to more questions.  Or that the kids won't like your answers.  In the words of Tupac "some things will never change."

Our breakfast bar.

"I don't want to go to school, the substitute teacher we are going to have is sooooo mean," my daughter, Lucy, proclaimed that same morning as she slumped into her seat for breakfast.

"Well, make the best of it," I told her in my best cheery Carol Brady mom voice.

"Why are taking her side?," she said in her most aggravated, entitled Marsha Brady daughter voice.

"Who would want to shoot Tupac?" Peyton asked looking very concerned.  He wasn't letting go.  
Music disclaimer: He knows 2Pac from one song I let him put put on his iTunes play list--Changes.  It's a great song, but I had no idea it would lead to a discussion of  mid-nineties rap wars and gun violence.

"Well there was a bad man that was angry with him and very violent," I thoughtfully told him. 

"We live in a violent world," he concluded looking worried.

"Duh," said Lucy, still pissed about having to go deal with a teacher she didn't like.

"Well, let's make the best of it," I said with a perma-grin.

It seems I've found my go-to answer---"Make the best of it."  You can use it in so many different scenarios.  And it's all plucky optimism and cheery bright side kind of advice.  It's my phrase that pays, theme of the day, when in doubt go-to mantra.  From rap wars to elementary school woes, it works.  

Do you have a parenting go-to phrase?  A mantra?  

Here's a funny scene from The Brady Bunch Movie, "Breakfast with the Bradys."  Just like breakfast at my house, minus the "the world is a violent place" conversation.

On a totally serious note, Changes is a pretty f*^#ing awesome song.  I love it.