*TEENIE SHRIEK*

OK, now that I've got THAT out of my system...

There are few things in life that will garnish you more ribbing than being an adult fan of pop music. I'll never forget the day I came home with a denim Backstreet Boys jacket that seemed average enough – that is, until I flipped a switch in the pocket and fiber optic lights sequentially flashed BACK ... STREET ... BOYS across my back. I thought my husband was going to exchange it for one of those cute white numbers with the wraparound sleeves. My kids, however, think it's cool and, honestly, so do I. My inner-teen is alive and well it seems.

Aaron Carter recently played our local amphitheater. If you haven't heard of him, Aaron is the 14-year-old brother of my favorite Backstreet Boy, Nick. Chances are if there is a Teen Beat or a PopStar magazine around your house, you've seen him, even if you didn't know his name. I've been an Aaron fan for almost two years and have seen him live four times. He has a charisma about him that just amazes me.

My oldest son, Matthew, is 6, and we attend Aaron's concerts together. I've been lucky with seats, always getting us close, this time being the best with second row center. My sister, her husband and my 6-year-old niece had tickets as well, a few rows behind us. Since the amphitheater is part of a theme park, we planned on spending the day riding rides and then attending the concert.

We started our day by meeting up with two of my friends, Angela and Debi. (They had front row seats and, yes, that's me you hear grumbling a faint "next time...") The day was pretty standard: I rode roller coasters with Matthew, who did his first one with a loop (he hated it), ate kettle corn and goofed around – you know the drill.

Standard, that is, until my cell phone rang with a call from Debi telling us to hustle up to the front of the park, as we had Meet & Greet passes with Aaron!

ACK!

I told my sister, and when our initial shaking had stopped, we told the kids and made a rather impressive run to the front gate. How come you are always the furthest point from where you need to be when something important comes up?

Before we had a chance to catch our breath, it was taken away again as we were walked backstage by Aaron's tour manager. It took me about two seconds (give or take a second) to spot Aaron jumping around and chatting with Townsend, his opening act. He had a new haircut, which the mom in me found completely adorable. He had on tan shorts and what struck me as a '70s-style striped shirt – but hey, the '70s are back in style again, so I'm told. Heavens, I think I heard my bones creak...

My niece, Jessica, saw him just as we did, but was so flustered that as we walked past him, she covered her eyes and said, "I just can't look at him." I was shocked by the giddiness of her actions until I realized that if that were a younger me seeing Peter Tork of the Monkees, I would have certainly done the same thing.

While we waited to meet Aaron, my sister, Candy, and I tried to get Jessica to have her Aaron T-shirt autographed. My sister even offered to mount and frame it for her room, but Jessica wouldn't have any part of it. Still trying to convince her of what WE thought would be fun, Candy told her that she would let Aaron sign her shirt and me, trying to help out, followed suit and said I would let Aaron sign my jeans (I had on a tank top, so the shirt was not an option). The emotion of being so close to her idol was just too much for Jessica and she started to cry. Yikes. Thankfully, she calmed down and agreed that he could sign her tickets.

It wasn't long before Matthew and I got our turn to talk to Aaron – and it was great. I had told Matthew to remember that Aaron is just a regular kid and to talk to him like that. Who would have thought he'd actually listen; how come he can't hear me when I tell him to clean his room?

I was grinning like a goof as Matthew very calmly told him which song is his favorite ("Another Earthquake") and asked him if he'd sign our tickets. Aaron was wonderful. He really listened to what Matthew had to say, keeping eye contact and asking him questions that Matthew happily answered, all while signing our tickets.

As he signed, he asked Matthew his name and how to spell it, looking at me a bit confused when Matthew put a "D" at the end. I gave the now-standard brief explanation to Aaron that there are two Matthews in his class at school, and he still chooses to go by Matthew D. Basically, I was playing good mom, letting Matthew have his moment, holding in my personal teenie scream (which was tough let me tell you), when my darling little child said, as we were about to walk away, "My mom wants you to sign her pants!"

Yes, the jaw you heard hit the floor was mine. How many shades of red is the human face capable of turning?

I recovered fairly quickly, which was difficult with Aaron grinning at me and counting those shades of red. What the heck, right? "Aaron," I said. "This is going to sound stupid, but will you sign my jeans?"

Oh. My. Gawd. Let me just say that I will never forget the look he gave me. His whole face lit up. He looked me right in the eyes, gave me the cutest smirk with a little laugh and said, "Sure!" I was complete butter, mind you, as I sat down on the table, and he signed my right thigh (well, my jeans – no need to scare him).

I'm such a goober! I thanked him and looked back at Angela, who had a look on her face that screamed, "I can't believe you just did that!" quickly followed by a real shout of, "I got pictures!"

I still can't believe I flopped my 34-year-old thigh in front of him to autograph! Matthew, however, thought it was cool, and honestly, so did I. Jessica couldn't find her voice to talk to Aaron as he signed her tickets, but she recalled every second of it over and over for the rest of the day.

My corruption has apparently trickled down the family tree. My sister was next in line, and Aaron happily autographed her shirt, which she says she's going to frame and hang in HER room.

*TEENIE MOMENT ON*

OhmyGawdImetAaronCarterandhesignedmypants!!!!<>

*TEENIE MOMENT OFF*

As promised, Angela and Debi got identical pictures of the signing. Debi even capturing him waving goodbye and smiling to Matthew, who said, "We'll see you at the concert!" as we left.

The show itself was amazing – no props, just Aaron, his band and his dancers. He sounded great! I got a lot of shoulder taps and pointing fingers before the show, asking if the autograph was real, most coming from moms showing it to their teen daughters.

When I took Matthew to school two days later and the class waited in their line for the teacher to arrive, one of his classmates asked me if Aaron had really signed my pants. The grin on Matthew's face was priceless and growing at the same rate as mine. "Oh," I said. "He told you about that, did he? Well, yes, Aaron Carter really did sign my pants." The whole class started to giggle.

I love my inner teen – she's so active and fun. OK, so maybe I don't have it completely out of my system. Excuse me while I go shriek like a crazed teen and try and figure out what I'm going to do with autographed pants.

Want to see more?

• Talk to the Hand
• La Femme Nasty: Surviving Female Adolescence
• Learning to Let Go: Why Growing Up Is Hard on You
• Talk about it!