It is finally happening. My son is taking an interest in music. Better music. He has always loved music but as of late, we’ve been forced to listen to novelty songs and One Direction. Non-stop. And his preference for Radio Disney left me and my ears wanting more. A month ago I subtly suggested we try our local radio station, KIIS FM since a lot of the songs he likes are played on that station too. And it worked. That helped us to expand the genres of music is he is hearing. As a result, he has shown interest in Imagine Dragons and One Republic. But my happiest moment came the other day. Although he wanted to create a playlist on the iPad to listen to (hurrah!) he was grounded from screens (boo!) so instead I turned on the radio in his room. He came out after a few minutes, made me stop vaccuuming (amen!) and said, “I have a new favorite song. It’s ‘Ain’t it Fun’ (Paramore). Come on mom. Come listen to it with me.” I shot put the vaccuum and ran down the hall to his room. I am a big fan of that song. So we listened (he listened, I lip-synced) together.
I’m not a music snob but I don’t think that music needs to be dumbed down for kids. Music is a big source of enjoyment for me and has been for as long as I can remember. I was allowed to listen to pretty much anything that I wanted and I knew my boundaries in terms of language and themes, etc. Just because I heard 2 Live Crew in junior high did not mean it made my behavior change. I certainly wasn’t slanging rocks or getting horn y. Knowing how music has changed, I am not willing to just send my kids off with a radio for them to learn on their own. I see music as a great way to open the dialogue between our children about not only music, but the art form and life lessons that come along with it and the words being sung.
So we are starting New Music Mondays Dinner Time Playlists! Notice the new tab at the top of the page under the header?
I’m going to attempt to post a new New Music Mondays Dinner Time Playlist each Sunday night. It will be right on my sidebar (do you see it over there on the right hand side of the screen?). And you should be able to just hit play and listen along if you want to participate too. Although I am listening to the songs all the way through as I make them, I can’t gurantee that they are free of all bad words. I am pretty sure there is a “damn” in the Old School Rap Songs for Kids playlist. Depending on your views, values, etc. I suggest that you listen to them through first so you are aware of exactly what you are sharing with your kids. But be prepared for dance breaks. We allow them to get up from dinner a few times to dance along with the music. Mondays are pretty fun.
I LOVE old school rap. And rap has been one of the hardest genres to share with my kids thus far. When in the car, we mostly listen to Sirius which means that the rap stations are not edited or the clean versions of the songs. So we have to skip them. But I know that some of my favorites from when I was younger are just fine. And beat boxing! What kid doesn’t love that?!
So enjoy this week’s playlist. I’d love to hear if you listen along so leave a comment! Of course it doesn’t have to be on Monday. I’ll leave the playlist up for the whole week and then I think I am going to host the past lists on my Facebook page so you can check out those too. I’ll update you on that. And I’ll update the tab at the top of the page with quick discussion tips for each playlist. But only if you want to go that far. These are just things we will bring up to our kids while listening but while this is learning for them, we really just want it to be fun. Let’s rock.
Check out more info about New Music Mondays and see playlist talking points.
