Music to My Ears

The other day, the girls and I were eating lunch and talking while music from my Pandora radio station was playing in the background. All of a sudden, S perked up her ears, started bouncing to the music, and said, "Mama, I like this music. What's this song?" The track was Snow from the Red Hot Chili Peppers album Stadium Arcadium. She was really getting into the song and asking me who the band was and what the band members' names were. And there I was talking with my 3 1/2 year old about Anthony Kiedis!

We've been listening to a lot of kids' music lately (nothing against Andy Z or Laurie Berkner, but I've about had my fill!), and it is always a little thrilling to me when the girls notice "grown up" music. And this was RHCP! I was a big fan of the band back in the early '90s (when they were musically relevant). I saw them live at the second-ever Lollapalooza (back when it was relevant) and then again at the KROQ Weenie Roast in Los Angeles. (As an aside, it just occurred to me that I saw some amazing, even seminal, acts back then: Pearl Jam, Ice Cube, No Doubt, Foo Fighters, Garbage, The Fugees, even the KISS reunion).

It got me thinking about all the music that I haven't even begun to share with the girls. We listen to a lot of music at home, but we've really only scratched the surface. There is so much more that they have yet to discover. We've been trying to impart some of our favorites -- S recognizes some of my Springsteen, and she loves to sing John Denver, has just discovered Neil Diamond, and has fallen in love with the music of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. It's funny now that S is starting to really listen to and understand the lyrics, too. Even though Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire was the first song that she ever danced to, we don't really play it around her now. It causes her too much consternation: she keeps asking why he's playing with fire. And I've recently started listening to Amy Winehouse, but I am not going to share that with the girls yet -- the last thing I need is my preschooler singing about rehab!

I can't wait to see how their own musical tastes develop -- one of the things most fun about being a parent is to see how these little personalities with their own set of preferences take shape. I wonder if they'll like certain artists because of or in spite of our influence. Either way, it will be fun to share music with each other. And I look forward to the day when they introduce me to their music.