Night Time Ritual

When the kids were babies I would sing to them every night. I had a list of lullabies:

*Baby Mine, Dumbo
*Nice and Easy, Sinatra
*Miss Otis Regrets, Nancy Wilson
*Go to Sleep Little Baby, O Brother Where Art Thou
*Always, Fitzgerald
*Goodnight my Angel, Billy Joel
*Sweet Dreams Little Man (Godspeed), Dixie Chicks
and, of course, Sweet Baby James by James Taylor

It is Sweet Baby James that has "stuck" with the kids as THE lullaby song. They both call it the "cowboy" song and demand (mostly politely) that I sing it to them whenever it's my turn to put them to bed (and sometimes when it's Bryan's turn).

In case you haven't heard it, here it is (also, this was recorded on my birthday 11 years before I was born, so kick ass).



And here is the kids helping me sing the final chorus. They, of course, don't sing it as loudly when I record it. But it's still sweet.

Bad Songs

So the other day I came across this blog post about 10 songs kids love, but shouldn't.

Here's the list (in case you don't want to check out the link).
1. Starships by Nicki Minaj
2. Can You Blow my Whistle by Flo Rida
3. Tik Tok by Ke$ha
4. Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO
5. Wild Ones by Flo Rida
6. Single Runaway by Kanye West
7. Glad You Came by Wanted
8. Somebody That I Used to Know by Goyte
9. Domino by Jesse J
10. Scream by Usher

Here's what I have to say (like you, or anyone else cares, but that's why I have a blog).

1. Why is anyone listening to Nicki Minaj? This is a serious question.

2. Anyone who lets their children list to FLO RIDA needs parenting classes STAT. Are you freaking kidding me? Flo Rida? Of *course* he's on the list twice. Just give him one spot for "all songs" and free up some space, will ya?

3. Yeah, that song is pretty bad. Some of her songs are less bad, but Ke$ha is one naughty young lady and most of her songs are pretty inappropriate for kids.

4. I've heard a rumor there's a "clean" version of this song. I need to find it because (and I only slightly hesitate to admit this), I kinda like LMFAO.

5. See #2 - this second Flo Rida spot could have been taken up with Lady Gaga's "Love Games". I don't want Penelope to sing about taking a ride on a dildo stick, pleaseandthankyou.

6. I haven't heard this song, so I'm assuming she's right about this one. But it's Kanye West, when has he EVER been known to be appropriate for kids?

7. "Glad You Came" should not be on the list. You know what should? "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry. Have you listened to the lyrics? It glorifies substance abuses, causal sex, and being a f*cking twit.

Don't get me wrong. I let my kids listen to Katy Perry - but not her entire lexicon. Her songs are catchy and it's 1 million times better than that horrible Kidz Bop crap (if you buy Kidz Bop and are my friend then let it be known that you are dead to me. I can be friends with Republicans, the religious, Bears fans, and even the odd Dodgers fan. But not someone who profanes the ears of their children with Kidz Bop).

The point is? I would much, much, much rather my children listen to "Glad You Came", thinking the drink he's handing her is juice or milk than have my kids know the words to Perry's "Last Friday Night."

8. Here's another one that doesn't deserve the list. The blogger calls it stalker-ish. I think she needs to listen to The Police's "Every Breath You Take". Because *that* is what a stalker song sounds like. Not Goyte's break-up anthem.

9. Who is Jesse J and why do her parents let her dress like a hooker? How old is she? 12?

10. Yeah, parents who let their kids listen to this song need some classes. There are Usher songs that are ok, so it's not an Usher thing, just a this-song-thing.

I remember when I was a kid, we used to listen to George Michael's "I Want Your Sex" & Elton John's "The B*tch is Back" - only my parents would change the lyrics as we sang in the car. Neither my brother or I turned out too badly.

I get not wanting to listen to Yo-Gabba-Gabba & The Fresh Beat Band all day (especially The Fresh Beat Band). And I *especially* get not wanting to subject yourself to the drivel of Kidz Bop (see #7). So listen to original works - listen to pop, rock, country, R&B, bluegrass, gospel, even rap. Listen away. Expose your kids to a little bit of everything - just not Flo Rida. Please.

And change the channel. Because they may just be songs. And you may not think it matters - but kids absorb a lot. We communicate social norms, values, and behaviors through song. We've done so since humanity was born. We should all just be a little more aware of what are kids are absorbing...

Stup*d iTunes

Actually, this is my fault.

So I know that I have chronicled Penny's love for the Lady GaGa. A love which I don't quite understand, but whatever. I certainly don't hate LGG, but she's a "small dose" musician/artist/freakshow/whatever. I cannot listen to her for an hour straight, no matter how much Poe would like to.

So I downloaded a bunch of kids songs to break up the GaGa-ness that occasionally invades our house. Pen really seemed to love the kids CD Kim & Orson have so it seemed like an excellent idea at the time.

Until now, when I'm finishing up my Thesis and listening to music... and f*ing children's songs, with the annoying tone-deaf chorus, screaming in my bloody ear. Yeah, not such a good idea.

I also have x-mas music on my iTunes because (shut up) I like x-mas music. Only it is March and damnit, I do not want to hear the Glee cast sing "Oh Christmas Tree".

F*you iTunes.

But then, when I skip the latest round of kids and x-mas music, iTunes plays "I'm on a Boat" for me.

Ok iTunes, I love you again.

This is what happens when she dresses herself

It's been a busy break so far. We're only on Tuesday and we've already had three play groups, a dozen art projects, and almost no TV (yea!).

I missed the stay-at-home-mom thing. But I know when week 2 rolls around I'll miss teaching. I'm really looking forward to having my credential, for a lot of reasons, one major reason is that hopefully I'll find a job where I'll have my own classroom. This traveling from class to class makes things a little more difficult than I anticipated - keeping track of student work, grading, communicating with students and parents... all much more difficult when you work out of a rolling bin.

Anyway. The kids.

Here are some pictures... hopefully tomorrow they'll nap as wonderfully as today and I'll get a chance to write a longer blog post.

So here's some of Penny's handpicked outfits:


(I think this one looks like Cindy-Lou Who on after a Caribbean vacation)

The other day Poe climbed into G's jumper. I have no idea how she did this.


Poe playing the drums, her Uncle Nic would be so proud


She would actually bow to the audience after each song. Freaking hilarious.

"Helping" me feed Griffin - she actually wasn't half bad :)




That's what I have for now :) If I don't post until after x-mas then I hope everyone has a very happy holiday!

Shake it baby

Tuesdays are Music days... MSN has music on Fridays as well, but that class tends to be really busy and overwhelming for Penny. Tuesdays generally brings a smaller crowd, and Penny really loves Lisa Phenix (the instructor). Joey teaches Fridays and summers, Penny had the biggest crush on him for awhile but since we don't see him very often she's gotten a bit shy around him, she's very wary around men she doesn't know well.

Anyway, Lisa's class is a lot of fun. Pen plays with egg shakers, bells, drums, wooden frogs, scarves, and more. For the past month Lisa's been bringing bellydance skirts for the kids to use as percussion instruments and today Penny was ALL ABOUT the skirt. She really wanted to wear it, and we obliged... and then she didn't want to take it off and got very upset when my hands got anywhere near the tie.

It was pretty cute, she'd dance and stomp and shake to the music - she really loved that skirt.

Luckily I brought my camera, so here's Penny the amateur bellydancer:




And here she is the other day with Linden and Sophia - the three kids were hanging out on Sophia's bed after she woke up from her nap:


And Penny and Daddy playing dress up. Bryan asked me not to post this picture, but it's too damn cute - sorry B! :)




Tonight I'm off to see Bon Jovi :) Hooray for concerts when you're pregnant! I saw New Kids when I was 8 months pregnant with Penelope, so I'm continuing the tradition with "&".

Paul McCartney or Michael Jackson?

I can't decide which artist Penelope likes better. Every time one of their duets plays on the 80s channel she stops what she's doing and dances. We were in the middle of reading The Foot Book for the 1,000th time when "Say, Say" came on and she turned around, walked to the middle of the livingroom, and rocked out. It was pretty funny.

She doesn't do the same for Jackson 5 stuff, and remarkably enough the 80s channel doesn't really play all that much MJ or McCartney solo stuff. So I can't tell if it's one or the other - or maybe it's just the combo of the King of Pop and Paul McCartney that she loves so much.

This morning at breakfast Penelope refused to eat her oatmeal and wanted nothing but strawberries and milk... after the strawberries ran out (she had 6 large berries) she eventually (and VERY reluctantly) ate her oatmeal. I may just start giving her cut up fruit and maybe some toast for breakfast and letting her feed herself. It would make it easier for me to eat my breakfast (and, if I'm being honest, surf the web).

Today we're heading over to Art Beast to play. It's an art studio for kids and I think P will have a really good time. I'll try and remember to bring my camera.

I took video today...

But haven't uploaded it yet. I'm only telling you this because I need to be held accountable and if I don't put it out there it'll sit dormant on the video camera until Penelope's second birthday.

It's really cute.

Anyway, we have some new firsts. Today was the VERY FIRST TIME Penelope has EVER fed herself. I am so beyond excited... part of me was convinced I was going to be feeding her until she was 13. But nope! Tonight at dinner she picked up a tortilla chip (we were at a Mexican Restaurant) that we had given her to play with (she likes to crumble them into little pieces and throw them on the floor - we are the bane of all waitstaff). Anyway, she picked it up AND PUT IT IN HER MOUTH! And then ate it! And picked up another one and ate some more!

I seriously got teary eyed at the restaurant. I wish I was kidding.

Other new-ish stuff (I cannot remember if I've blogged about this before and am way too lazy to go back and check).
*Playing with the shaker egg... so we've been going to music classes for ages. She dances and is absolutely fascinated with guitars, but has never really taken the shaker egg and given it a good shake. But today (incidentally, NOT during music class) she picked one up and went to town. Shaking it to her own special rhythm, and even clapping with it in her hand. Cute!
*Clapping - all the time. If I ask her to show me "Yea!" she claps like a mad woman.
*Kissing on command - that sounds awful, but it's not. If I ask her for a kiss she'll give me one. Of course, then she won't stop. She sometimes tried to eat my face. I can't tell if I birthed a Jezebel or a Zombie. Maybe both. She doesn't do it for everyone though, so far it's just a few people - so it's not like she's making out with random strangers... just mommy *lol*
*Kissing BOYS. Well, just Orson. The two of them are hilarious... Orson is just hilarious - he'll kiss whatever girl is sitting next to him. Kim & Matt are going to have their hands full, I wonder whose karma this is coming back to haunt them? Hopefully my karma never comes back to visit me, otherwise I'm locking both of my children up in convents until they're 30.

Pictures and video later, I promise.