Soundtrack to a childhood
Being a parent has its ups and downs. The past few days, well, they’ve been part of the “downs.” Esme has been pretty darn finicky about sleeping, usually refusing to sleep unless she’s being held. This apparently is normal, and (hopefully) just part of a phase. And, of course, it could be much much worse. Still, it’s frustrating, much more so for Leslie who has been staying up more at night and dealing with it more during the day.
The one thing that seems to help calm Esme down is some good music. This is certainly music to our ears (pun intended), since we as two music-loving parents hope to bring our daughter up in a household of good music. We haven’t tried too many different artists yet — when you find one that works, you stick with it — though here’s what seems to calm Esme down so far:
- Carole King, particularly the Tapestry album
- Bob Marley; she really likes Three Little Birds (so says Mom, who just so happens to name this her favorite of his songs)
- Free To Be… You and Me; strangely, this is really the only “children’s” music we’ve really been playing for her. Granted, it’s from Jeff’s childhood, though that is pretty appropriate since we’ve been soothing her to the original vinyl (!)
Mike and Lindsey (and their little one, Tatum) recommended the Rockabye Baby series, which features lullaby versions of pop classics (e.g. Beatles, Coldplay, Metallica). We haven’t gotten around to those yet with Esme, though I’m sure we will. Mom and Dad enjoy them, though. Baby Radiohead is, um, interesting. We might have to wait until she’s a little older to spring that on her. It’s a bit creepy, to say the least.
In utero, Esme was well cultured, listening to lots of Nirvana (though, ironically, not the In Utero album), Dan Potthast, Alkaline Trio, The Slackers, Chris Murray, and Stevie Wonder. (Extra credit for those who can correctly identify which ones were played by Mom and which by Dad.)
We look forward to broading her musical horizons even more in the near future, and maybe even staying away from “kids” music as much as possible. (Okay, we may break out some Rosenshontz; no Barney, though.)
Any other suggestions for kid-friendly music that’s adult-friendly too? Anything that’s the audio equivalent of Pixar?
September 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks.
Standout tracks include Pavement doing “No More Kings” and Blind Melon doing “Three Is a Magic Number”.
I listen to No More Kings several times a week these days, tis election season I guess
Rockin’, rollin’ splishin’, splashin’ Over the horizon, what can it be?
Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah Do it to me one time.
The pilgrims sailed the sea
To find a place to call their own so free
In their little to ship, the Mayflower
They hope to find a better home to be
The finally knocked on Plymouth Rock
As some one said we’re there
It may not look like home
But at this point I don’t care
Oh they were missing mother England
They swore their loyalty until the very end
Anything you say King, it’s OK King
You know it’s kinda scary on your own
We’ve got to all just get together
Talk to call each other on the telephone
I want no more kings no more kings
You taxed our property you didn’t give us any choice
And meanwhile back in England you didn’t give them any voice
That’s what I call taxation without representation
And that’s not fair (It’s wrong! It’s wrong!)
It’s a long list of mistakes you made King
And let’s start with the – worst
You had the nerve to tax our cup of tea
To put it kindly King, what? did you expect me to agree?
Gonna show you why we dumped it in the ocean
Made the biggest harbor of tea you’ll ever see
No more Kings Gonna run our things our own way
Gonna run it into the ground