Is your mother cooler than you?No one wants to turn into their mother, right? I certainly don't want to become a harsh critic and sarcastic accuser. I know my cousin doesn't want to turn into a raving lunatic. My friend definitely doesn't want to become a nagging control freak who thinks she can control her daughter's life.

OK, maybe I'm being a little harsh, but the saying has staying power for a reason. I was pondering it the other day, hoping to avoid my destiny, and then I thought . . . wait . . . what if I was already like my mom when I was younger, and fate is just too strong to turn it all around now? I decided to investigate. Rehash some stories with my mom about her 20s.

What I found was a little disturbing. OK . . . deep breath . . . was that I think my mom was (or maybe, therefore, is) a lot cooler than me.

You never assume that, really. Quite the contrary, you usually think the exact opposite. But, believe me, especially if your parents were of prime age in the 1960s and 1970s, your parents may have been cooler than you. Maybe they rebelled regularly, did things you would never think them capable of doing.

For instance, a few benign rehashings. My mom was on her way to Woodstock. She and her friends had already traveled from Philadelphia past NYC when the radio informed them that there was a three-hour traffic jam leading to the concert. They turned around after that. They headed down the shore (like they did every summer - for the whole summer, not just weekends).

Listen closely. There is good chance that a lot of our parents either made it to Woodstock, or in their drug-addled minds, seriously considered it. She looks benign now, but I know my mom was a smoker. Because she told me? No. She told my straight-arrow older sister.

Side note: I have not needed to use this information against her . . . yet.

When I moved to Northern New Jersey, my mom knew the area quite well. Why? Because she once had a friend who was a stewardess stationed out of Newark. (And that was back in the day when stewardesses were stewardesses and flight attendants were . . . well, never mind.) Anyway, a whole lot of girlfriends used to come up and go to the parties that the stewardess was invited to. What?!? Is my mom allowed to do things like that? Believe it not, she is allowed.

So consider this a warning . . . you are not becoming your mother, because right now, you are just too lame.

- Amanda Koch

Amanda, a denizen of Jersey City, is a frequent Current contributor.