Me: C'mon baby, let's dance!The sounds of The Clash fill our living room and it's only 10am.
"Say you stand by your man
Tell me something I don't understand
You said you love me and that's a fact
Then you left me, said you felt trapped
Well some things you can explain away
But the heartache's in me till this day!!
Did you stand by me?
No, not at all
Did you stand my me?
No way"
Me: That's it! Shake it, little one! (I politely wave at the neighbours through my wide opened window. They probably think I'm weird. Meh, I don't care)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYK7bEo1Z4M
I have a confession: I don't listen to kiddie music. At all. In fact, I was given a Raffi CD when the sleepy wonder was still the sleepless wonder and I think I have only listened to it a few times. Not that I don't love Raffi. Let's face it, the man is a legend. I just couldn't bring myself to blast it through the car speakers. I tried, I really did, but I found my enthusiasm was just lacking and at about the third, "the more we get together," I had to turn poor Raffi off.
I have played music for the little one since the day he was born. In fact, we have spent many an afternoon searching through Youtube for old Elvis songs, classic Elton John ballads, and of course, all things Busta. The other day we were listening to Cee-lo and I thought I would video tape (do we still say video tape?) the little guy dancing and bobbing his head. I flicked the "on" switch just as Cee-lo let out a loud, and very clearly articulated "Fuck." Christ, how would I explain that one to the grandparents? I personally don't have that big of a deal with cursing, (I've been known to say a few words here and there) but how do I feel about the little guy listening to music that throws out the odd curse or two when he could be shaking it to songs about sharing and rhyming, and the letters of the alphabet?
When I was still in my mama's belly, my father would crank up Meatloaf and he swears I would begin furiously kicking (he claims it was because I loved "Bat Out of Hell"-ummmm...I'm not so sure I agree). I grew up with a house full of loud music, much to the sometimes annoyance of my mother (especially when said music is still blaring at 2am!) I would go to various friends' homes and be shocked when their living rooms didn't have 3ft wooden speakers in them. Wasn't that as necessary as say, a couch? As such, I had every word to, "The Wall," memorized long before I was a teenager and it was cool to quote such lyrics. In fact, I know my love of Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Cat Stevens can be directly related back to my mom and dad's vinyl collection.
I guess parenting is all about balance. While I might not be able to endure a whole Raffi CD, there will come a point when I'll slip the disc in and enjoy a few songs. In the meantime, I'll be sure to fill our home with all the sounds and music that make me happy and hopefully our little one will enjoy it too. Watching him dance is by far the cutest thing he does. Today.
