So I Think I Can... Um...

On Sunday night, Tara Jean Popowich of Lethbridge, Alberta won the title of Canada’s favourite dancer on So You Think You Can Dance. Almost 3 million votes were cast, which is pretty rad for our sparsely populated country (permafrost will do that to a place), and I thought, Wow. That’s pretty rad.

I started to wonder what it would be like to be Canada’s favourite at something, and I figured it would be pretty cool. In fact, I’d like to be Canada’s favourite at something, but first, I’d have to figure out what, and then I’d have to compete against a whole bunch of other people who also thought they were the favourite at something, so that when I rightly took my title, Canada would know that I earned it fair and square.

But what could I enter and become Canada’s favourite at? I have few marketable skills, and even if there were a show called So You Think You Can Write a Blurb or, So You Think You Can Cross-Stitch, I probably wouldn’t win either one. I mean, I know I can write a blurb, and I know I can cross-stitch, but the stuff I do is fairly pedestrian or laced with bad words, so I doubt I would become Canada’s favourite. I’ve already took part in a spelling bee and proved my hoserness with lackluster results. I usually beat my husband at Scrabble or Yahtzee, but I doubt 3 million ballots would be cast in my favour simply for rolling dice. 

Let’s see… So You Think You Can Clean a Toilet? So You Think You Can Rake the Leaves? Well, I’d be happy to lose those competitions. So You Think You Can Cook? So You Think You Can Devise a Healthy Meal Plan? Ok, if my competition was my bachelor brother, my BFF and the pimply kid I rent movies from, I might make the finals.

Me and the fam like to play a game called, So You Think You Can Hopscotch, where we each have to jump the grid painted in the schoolyard in a dance style called out by someone else. For instance, if someone yells out, Hip Hop! You have to shake your booty from 1 – 10 in as authentic a way as possible. But if the goal is really to hopscotch/dance the best, then my classically trained BFF takes the title. If the goal is to get the most onlookers peeing their pants as you funky-chicken down the board in an attempt to look fierce, than I may make it to the finale.

I know, I know, the point in doing the things we do should not be for recognition or a prize. Fine. I’ll settle for a tiara. But first, of course, first I have to figure out what I am Canada’s favourite at. So You Think You Can Catch a Bus? I could be bloody Ken Jennings at that one. So You Think You Can Speak Piglatin?

I went to bed after Tara Jean was awarded the $100,000 and the car and most importantly, THE WIN, and was still thinking about how to become Canada’s favourite something or other.

A few hours later, my 4 year old tiptoed into our room, looking to take refuge beneath our covers. I pulled her close to me and inhaled her sweet, sleepy scent. She snuggled in even closer, and whispered to me, ‘You’re the best Mummy in the world.’

And then I knew, I had the only vote that counted.

This is an original post for Canada Moms Blog. Karen also writes at The Kids Are Alright.