Song In My Head

The song in my head today is "Fall Back Down" by Rancid. I've been singing it to my 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son a lot lately, but after breakfast today we listened and danced to the song. They loved it. Kids love happy punks.

A Blessing or a Curse - Response

It truly is a conundrum, although my kids are still too little to fall victim to pop radio. (Chloe does seem to like pretty much everything she hears on Sirius First Wave, save for "Rehumanize Yourself" by The Police.

Check out this link for what one Dad is doing:
http://kids.baristanet.com/2011/02/listening-to-music-with-your-kids/

A Blessing or a Curse - Pt. 1

My kids love music: all of them. The problem – their musical preferences blow. ITunes cards are like gold in our house. Everybody wants something. The question is, what is being chosen.

I believe in being an equal opportunist. Everyone should get what he or she like (as long as it’s clean or appropriate.) But I’m in a conundrum. Should I influence their choices, or let them discover music on their own?

As a kid, my tastes, early on, were shaped by my parents. My mom was the music lover in my house. Her love of mellow rock like Simon & Garfunkel, Seals & Crofts, Carole King & the Beatles were groups that I still appreciate today.

My dad would go berserk and turn the radio off when a guitar solo from Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4” or Steely Dan's "Reelin’ In the Years” came on. From there I found my own musical paths.

My kids think the likes of Iyaz, David Guetta, Flo Rida, and Usher are the greatest. My son even told me once “Rock stinks. Pop & Rap are what’s cool.” While letting them listen to Sirius Hits 1, Mumford & Sons came on. I was excited that something I found interesting came on their station. All I got was, “Change the station.”

I hope that their love for music continues, but we can find a common avenue – or is that just me getting old?