I'm a little bit country; they're a little bit rock-n-roll

I don't generally turn to 8-year-olds for movie advice, but this weekend, Jenna Louise Tokash did me right. We scored a sleepover with her on Friday and then convinced her father (yes, I totally took advantage of Drew's busy soccer schedule and Amy being on the town with her Hobart girls) to let us have her on Saturday, too.

Our ATT Uverse has been acting up lately, and on Friday night, it died. That meant we didn't have TV or Internet service. Happily, our phones worked, but the technician couldn't come until Sunday morning.

The girls are both addicted to Sponge Bob, and Alison was anxious to show Jenna all her Web sites and play the Wii, so I knew we could be looking at a grim night. So I did my best to tire them out. We started Saturday out with an hour of gymnastics (they wore their leotards until bedtime), blew the last of Alison's Climb Time Christsmas gift certificate with an hour and a half on the rocks and then I sent them out into the 6-inches of snow that had fallen Friday night.

They dragged out both the Easy Bake Oven and the Girl's Gourmet Cake Maker, along with the Pixo's deluxe edition.

As the day wound down, I was musing about what we could do later and Jenna suggested Avatar -- "The best movie EVER!" I was a little suprised she'd seen it -- it didn't sound like something she'd see, but Ali thought she'd like it, too. Problem solved, I thought. Even if it were scary, the chances that they'd fall asleep in the dark theater were good.

Neither fell asleep, although we had moments (even though she'd seen it before) when the girls grabbed on to one of us. It's a great movie, though -- well worth the admission.

Jenna was a treat all weekend. She sided with me way more than the little red head. At one point I informed them that Jenna was quick becoming my favorite daughter.

But then I remember the ride home from Springhill Elementary School. I was tooling along 86th Street, thinking about all the great fun we'd soon be having and humming along with Jason Aldean.

"Um, Miss Cheryl," comes a voice from the brunette in the back seat.

"Yes, Jenna?"

"What kind of music is that?"

Before I could answer, this from her back seat companion: "Ugh. It's country music."

"Miss Cheryl?"

"Yes, Jenna?"

"I hate country music."

I kept my cool and advised Jenna that she had been brainwashed by her rock-n-roll mother.

"Jenna," says Ali, not even trying to be subtle. "I have to listen to this EVERY day!"

They spent the rest of the ride home talking about how great rock-n-roll is and how how hip-hop is a close second.

Despite their lack of love for country music, I still showed the little brats a good time. I made them do their spelling homework, but I let them stay in their pjs until Tom finally made me give Jenna back.

I miss seeing that little girl. It was a fun weekend.

Now our attention is turning to Miami and our plans for another Colts Super Bowl Win. Go Colts!