About Heather Camlot
A freelance writer, crafts junkie and mom of two, Heather Camlot is constantly on the lookout for that elusive work-life balance she hears so much about. Read about Heather's never ending search for five minutes to herself while trying to meet deadlines, make the school bus and raise two fantastic children.
The other day a colleague asked me if Alexandre had seen the movie High School Musical. I said no. She hadn’t introduced it to her five-year-old daughter yet either, but she was thinking about it because other parents told her it was accessible; syrupy pop with high Disney morals. Her daughter was already familiar with the Jonas Brothers – which she couldn't figure out as it was never played in her house. She even tested her daughter as to the names of the boys in the band and her daughter passed with flying colors.
As much as we don’t want our children to get into what we consider bubblegum pop, it’s inevitably going to happen, the question is just when. So far, Alexandre isn’t interested. Marc and I are music junkies. We have way too many CDs (yes, CDs, we even have cassettes and records!) in way too many genres. We have slightly different tastes in music too, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad. But when we decided to put a stereo in Alexandre’s room a few weeks ago, choosing the music that went along for his listening pleasure was hands-down easy.
Alexandre was already familiar with the Beatles (I would sing him In My Life as a lullaby), had a taste for the Gorillaz (I swear I played the album once when he was about three and the song Clint Eastwood became THE car song for months) and quite enjoys the Barenaked Ladies (because he thinks they’re funny). We also handed over some Neil Young, CSNY, Jack Johnson, and a few other mellow singer-songwriters. So far he’s liking what he’s hearing.
Don’t misunderstand, we’re not limiting his music choices – we have a lot of kids’ albums that he and Juliana still request and the stereo has of course a radio tuner that he spins until a song catches his ear – the genre of which varies by day, by mood, by energy level. We just want him to appreciate the finer things in music before he goes through that bubblegum pop phase as we all did. In the meantime, I have to admit I take pride in hearing him quietly sing Young's Helpless when he thinks no one is listening.
What do your children like to listen to? Log in and leave a comment below!
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