How Music Has Made Me A Better Parent.

Several months ago I was going somewhere with the girls, I can't remember where, and we were listening to John Lennon on my IPod.  About halfway through the song 'Imagine' Lilly asked me what it was about, so I explained to her that it was about peace and loving everyone and that if we removed all the "stuff" that we deem as important in our lives we would see that we are all the same and maybe we'd be able to get along.  I explained to her that it was about hope.  A couple minutes later I looked over and she was crying.  I asked her if she was okay and she said..."Yes.  I just wish this is what our world was really like."

Ever since that day whenever we are in the car together she asks me what songs mean and I do my best to explain to her what I think they mean.  Sometimes they are meaningful, and other times she shares my sentiment that a song is really stupid.  Like that where have you been all my li i i ife song...Just dumb.  But anyway,  I love that we can share that time together because music is important to me and I'm glad that it is to her as well.  Actually all my kids are music buffs.  They all have their own tastes, and they are all very "passionate" about what they think is the best.

I was thinking the other day about my love for music and how it has been a part of my parenting.  We always  have music on in our home.  There was a time when I thought it was super hilarious to blast Welcome To The Jungle as loud as it would go to wake the kids up in the morning.  They didn't think it was nearly as funny as I did, but a mom has to get her giggles in some how. It also makes me super proud that my kids know who Queen, The Who and Van Halen are. So I thought it would be kind of fun to give a run down of some of the ways that music has helped me to be a better parent.

First, sometimes songs just embody a sentiment much more than you can as a mere emotional mortal.  When I think about how I feel about my kids there is only one that comes to mind.  When my kids are feeling down I just want them to listen to this song until they feel better. I want them to understand that no matter what I will always stand up for them and that I will always love them!!!





And I want them to head bang through the chorus.

Second,  being a music lover has made me a translator.  How, you ask?  I'll show you

The Woo-Hoo song = The Walk of Life, Dire Straits
The Sun Goes Down song = Glad You Came, The Wanted
Oh Number One = Only The Young, Brandon Flowers
The Chipmunk Song = Sleepyhead, Passion Pit
Smile Like You'll Eat It = Smile Like You Mean It, The Killers
That one song with the piano that I like = This Ain't Goodbye, Train

You get the idea...

Third, being a music lover has taught me maturity and restraint.  Instead of singing..."If I ever did that, I think I'd have a fart attack."  and totally offend my girls who love that song,  I sing it right out loud, but wrong in my head and then silently laugh to myself.  As a side note, fart can be changed for heart in any pop song and still make total sense.  You should try it sometime.  (E.g... I'm only gonna break, break a break break a fart.)



Going along with number three but in a positive direction, sometimes changing the words to songs is super fun and appropriate and won't offend anyone.  Like when potty training it's 100% appropriate to sing "My girl has to potty all the time, potty all the time, potty all the time."



 Or..."Maddi Joooooooo...she's a vegetarian, Maddi Jo, Maddi Jo."  When you're just trying to make your kids smile.



I started singing this song to Maddi on the way home from the hospital the day she was born and almost 6  years later I still sing it to her.  Sometime I change it to veterinarian or Presbyterian just to mix it up a bit.

Fourth, being a music lover has taught me patience.  When I flip through the channels and hear the same song on 7 different channels and the kids insist we stop and listen to however much of the song is left on every single channel;  I smile and sing along.  It's the only way people.  Don't try to fight it.  Just know in a few short weeks Rihanna will release a new song and you'll only hear that one incessantly for the next few weeks.

Fifth,  your kids like it when you show interest in the things they love.  So, I know all the words to every One Direction, Bieber, Hot Chelle Rae etc...song out there.  And I sing along with them all.  Sometimes I don't even do it on purpose.  Also,  it's important to understand that even though Harry gets all the attention, Zane is really the talented one and WAAAAAY hotter too.  Just sayin...that kind of info will keep you in good with the 2nd graders.  And you should probably turn a blind eye when you see your kindergartner kissing her Bieber poster.  Don't even act like you didn't do the same thing to Jordan Knight when he was hanging on your wall.

So,  these are just a few areas where music has helped me in my parenting.  Music is it's own language and sometimes it's much easier to express how we feel using it.  On that note,  I leave you with this...

Happy Birthday, Moz

Today marks the birth of a man who many people (including himself) think is pretty awesome. I have found that he's quite polarizing. Either you love him, or you hate him. There's really no middle ground.

I love him. My life literally changed the first time I heard Bigmouth Strikes Again.

Literally.

Changed.

 I was instantly cooler. It was a Friday night and some friends and I were on the way to a party. Evidently there was a boy there- we would surely hit it off instantly and were destined to meet. That's a story for another time, however, as we know how Moz gets when he doesn't get all the attention.... So here you go, and here's hoping he gets well enough to tour again because I need to cross him off my bucket list.



In honor of such greatness, I'm posting 2 songs, here are a couple of my favorites.












PS...Dear blog readers,  Please do not send Layne hate mail for "not getting Moz's birthday right'.  She totally did, but this completely un-user friendly and really retarded new blogger platform has taken it upon itself to vex her life.  She knew it was yesterday.  Thank you and have a nice day.

I love this song, and I don't care who knows it.






 That is all.

It's been a while.

It has been brought to my attention that I have not posted a blog in exactly 150 years. That's a mighty long time.

I had a slight brush with death today. Nothing gradiose happened.
 I did not see any visions of my life flash before my eyes.
 I didn't have any heartwarming thoughts of the people I love.
I simply blew a kiss to a large black man.
It's my automatic response when I'm flipped off.
He didn't like it.

At all.


 I might add here that he was not terribly attractive. LL Cool J is a beautiful man. He looked nothing like LL. One would think that he'd be grateful a cute girl is blowing him a kiss. Maybe he was overwhelmed. Whatever he was, I thought he was gonna stop his car and beat me. Being the brave girl I am, I hit the gas and hightailed it outta sight.

That's pretty much the whole story. Nothing too crazy. I guess I should start yelling at people in french when they flip me off, but it loses it's fun when people stare blankly and flip you off again.
So I will continue to blow kisses.

I believe in love, after all...

I also believe in music. I have no profound and perfect song to go with this story, really..... I just have a song that I love, and has been playing in my head for about a month.

It's no secret that I love a boy with an accent. This one happens to be from Wales. While this isn't my favorite band, I do appreciate them quite a bit. And thus far, this is my favorite song from them. I love it. It's about 8 years old, but it's fanfreakingtastic. His voice has been described with one word... ''whiskey"...

That is all.

Happy Friggin' Valentines Day

I was perusing the interweb today looking for ideas for Patrick for Valentines Day, and I must say that the people who write these "14 things to get your man for Valentines Day" type articles have the weirdest boyfriends/husbands on the planet. Here are a few things that don't quite embody my love for Patrick.

Yep.   It's a heart shaped paper weight with chalk.   It could be useful.  Holds your papers down in case there's a sudden breeze.  You can write yourself a little note.  Or you can throw it at someones head when you get in a fight.  How'd your wife die again?  I bludgeoned her to death with my wicked lame Valentines gift.  Don't even act like that's not how it wouldn't go down.

  

Okay...If your dude is  gypsy or something, then maybe.  Otherwise, this is just going to stress him out.  He'll be looking at that one line and wondering when he's going to die.  Then he'll look at that other line and think you're cheating. Or he'll think you're calling him a pickle.  Which is just weird. This will not work out well for the giver, believe me.  With the exception of not messing up your coffee table, there is no good that can come from this gift.

They're rocks.  With words on them.  My kids did stuff like this for Mothers Day in Kindergarten.  For free.  Not $59.99 plus shipping and handling.
                                      
I'm sorry.  But if your significant other would wear this then he's a dork.  Or you're dating Bill Nye the Science Guy.

Because nothing says I love you like telling him to go wash his damn face.  You should throw some dental floss in the bag with it.  And some vaseline, just in case.

This year I think I'm going to go with a classic.  A coupon book for sex.  Works every time.

Dear Layne

My phone broke.  I have no facebook.  You have too many email accounts so I don't know which one to use.  Send me a message on gchat if you want to talk.  Thank you and have a nice day.

Love, Me.

I like Owl City and I Don't Care What You Think

I've said it before that I'm a lyrics girl.  It's probably why I don't like a lot of the music on the radio today.  Because it's stupid and repetitive.  I hate that crap.  Unless I'm dancing or running.  Then I don't want to think so it doesn't matter. It's also why I get really annoyed when a song comes out that has a catchy little beat that gets stuck in my head like this one and I just walk around randoming yelling out "Pa Pa Americano!"  Super annoying for everyone involved.   It's also why I super mega love Owl City.  I don't care what you think.  I know he can be cheesy, but his lyrics are clever and I like them and his music makes mopping the hardwoods in my house way more enjoyable.

Anyway what I'm trying to say is that I actually listen to music most of the time and then I think about stuff.  I think that's why I apply so many of my best memories to songs.  Like whenever I hear A Thousand Years by Christina Perri I think of the moment I saw Pat standing at the alter on our wedding day and that if it hadn't been a ridiculously treacherous hill and I wasn't wearing a super poofy dress I would have throw out all decorum and ran to him as fast as I could.  Or when I hear Next Year by Foo Fighters I think of dancing with Nathan in my living room when he was just a baby.  And We Love You by OMD makes me think of all the shenanigans that Layne and I pulled as teenagers.  And Forever Young by AlphaVille makes me think of Stake dances.  Which in turn makes me laugh really loud because the only reason I went to Stake dances was to hang out with Ben Nolan and it's funny to me that the same girl who would sneak out of her bedroom window to hang out by the beach with missionaries also had a crush on the stake presidents son.  Until he got a perm and then I was like..Dude! You have a perm and that's wicked lame.  But anyway...

Today I was cleaning and listening to Owl City and the song Vanilla Twilight came on.  I've always liked the song.  It's a bit of a cheesy love song, so I started thinking about the different kinds of love.  Obviously there's romantic love and all that it encompasses, but there's a more pure kind of love than that.  The love between a parent and a child.  The reason I think it is more pure is because I believe that neither party would ever intentionally hurt the other, in most cases.  Of course we do from time to time, but I don't think it's on purpose and I think that when it's discovered there is always an instant regret. I don't think we set out to hurt our spouses or friends and I believe there is regret, but not to the same degree as a parent and child. Our kids can be the most obnoxious, horrible human beings on the planet and we would still step in front of a bus to save their lives.  I'm not a psychologist so I don't know why that is.  Maybe it's because as a parent and child we are a part of each other.  Maybe it's because we see so much of ourselves in the other and we know what hurts us and how it feels so we don't want to inflict that on them.  I don't know, but whatever it is it's real, and it's strong.  This train of thought then lead me to my friend Tom and his daughter Airlia.  I like to watch their interactions because they have a very special and strong bond and even though they are in a situation where they don't get to see each other as much as they would like they don't let that affect the relationship they have.  So, as I was listening to the words to this song today I thought...I bet this is exactly how Tom feels when he thinks about Airlia.  It's a special kind of love story between a dad and his daughter.