The Soundtrack of Our Lives...

The boys really like music. We also seem to spend a lot of time in the car; therefore, we listen to music a lot. The problem that we have is that the boys don't just enjoy listening to whatever is on the radio, they get excited about a certain cd and then we have to listen to it all. of. the. time.

First we started with The Backyardigans, Mickey Mouse Clubhoue and Signing Times...

We listened to these daily while the boys were in preschool and through kindergarten. The best thing about them was that they really distracted the kids and kept the whining in the car down to a minimum. Even Charlie liked them when he was a baby. The music isn't terrible for adults, but it does wear on you after a while. But, listening to the music definitely beat the heck out of listening to the whining in the car, if you ask me. The cds were also as good as it got for long trips...because we were "mean parents" and did not get a dvd player in the car until this past summer. And, even now we are pretty mean and don't let them use the dvd player very often.

One day when I was really reconsidering whether the sound of whining was actually worse than listening to the kid's music cds for millionth time, I pulled out my Beatles 1 cd.

My thinking was that *I* really liked the cd and I couldn't think of anything that would be inappropriate for my then-6 year olds. I started with "Yellow Submarine". That first day, I swear we listened to it 20 times. I put it on so loud, just to be silly and the kids LOVED it! Charlie still cracks up every time the "boat gets broken". After a few weeks, we were finally able to make it through the rest of the cd, at normal volume, without anyone whining "Mom, I want to hear numbah 15....really, REALLY loud AGAIN!!".

Next, about a year and a half ago, I got them hooked on Abba.

I discovered that, strangely enough, everyone eats their breakfast better and is just generally happier when we listen to Abba in the morning. It is hard to be in a bad mood when you have a 2 year old singing "Dancing Queen" to you at breakfast. LOL!! Every once in a while, I wonder if I am increasing the boys' chances of getting beaten up by introducing them to old, strange music. It's true, they know nothing about HSM, but can sing most Beatles and Abba songs by heart. Yikes!

Then, it was summer '09.

I was looking for some new summery cds, to put in my new car and came up with the obvious choice. Good 'ole Jimmy Buffet. Obviously, "#9" is inappropriate so, we skip it, but the rest of the cd provided us great summer time music. And, Charlie LOVES "Jimmy Muffet" and shouts it everytime he hears a Jimmy Buffet song, much to the surprise of everyone else within earshot. "Mom, Mom, MOM, JIMMY MUFFET IS ON THE RADIO!!!"

Which brings us to present day...

That's right, currently Three Dog Night is slowly killing me in the carpool lines. Rick and Elaine gave it to us this summer to entertain the boys on our drive home. It was fun for a while. Joy to the World...at full blast.... does seem to energize everyone on the way to school, but I've about had it. Once again, Charlie especially loves it and he asks for "Joy to the World, louder Mommy, louder Mommy, louder Mommy...." everytime we are in the car. My funny kids have started calling the cd Four Cat Morning. Hilarious....to a 7 year old.

I used to think that the cd was pretty safe for kids. After all they got it from Uncle Deacon Rick. But, after Drew announced this morning that his favorite part of the song was when they sang "make sweet love to you", I realized that I was wrong. Nice job Rick and Elaine!! ;)

I realize that this post is probably stupid and boring to everyone but us, but this music is a HUGE part of our daily lives. Plus, I'm sure the boys will really enjoy reading this when they get older and laughing at what a dork their mother is for making them listen to this stuff. We'll see....