Singing a Different Tune

In preparing our mini-minivan for its next owners last fall, I emptied the car's CD changer, removing several Music Together CDs, along with similar "kids' music".  And it made me a little sad.  Somewhere along the way, without much of an ado, we gave up kids' music (unless of course, you count KidsBop, which for those who are blissfully aware, is a bunch of kids singing Top 40 hits...shoot me now).  There was a period of time when I could have sung Hello Everybody! in my sleep.  I still remember everyone we said hi to - John, Lynn, and Grandma Fred (that one always confused me).  We were at a party once when the kids were little, and we got into a discussion with another couple about music.  The woman "encouraged" me (I still remember she used that exact phrasing) to expose my kids to adult music.  And I nodded and agreed at the time, while knowing in the back of my head that that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.  You see, I really embraced kids' music.  I loved the hokey innocence of blasting Old McDonald Had a Farm and everyone in the car picking an animal noise to make.  I loved the cheery voices, catchy tunes, and easy-to-remember lyrics.  I loved taking my kids to music class and then playing the CDs and singing together at home.  I really dug kids' music, and all that it represented - I loved being a family with small children, silly songs and all.

But we don't listen to that music anymore.  Somewhere along the way, my boys started asking for the radio, and "grown-up music".  They began humming Top 40 tunes and recognizing Katy Perry and "Snoopy Dog Dog".  And as with all of these evolutions in the life of a family, there's new fun to be had.  Fun in introducing my kids to new genres of music, and to the songs and artists I love.  It's blasting Dynamite (their choice) and Take On Me (my choice) and dancing around the kitchen together.  It's letting them pick songs off of iTunes and trying to figure out the lyrics.  Life without kids' music really is okay.  And although that mom of small children at that party years ago would have clung to that kids' music stage forever, this mom feels at peace with its passing.  The music may have changed, but the family sing-a-longs in the car and the kitchen dance parties remain (albeit with a bit more attention paid to the lyrics).

In much the same vein, we have recently ventured out of the animated movie category into the world of "movies with real people".  Over February vacation, we watched ET, The Karate Kid, and Hook, and were reminded how good some of those "classics" are.  The boys have bonded with their uncle over the Star Wars trilogy and are eager to watch the other three, and Episode VII in December.  It's all fun and new and exciting, and we feel like there is suddenly a bigger world for us to explore on family movie nights.

In addition to watching a bunch of movies over February break, we also skied our tootsies off at the Camden Snow Bowl, which saw some of the best ski conditions in years.  The boys had lessons every morning, and I joined them for many of the afternoons. 

Ethan's lessons started a half hour before Adam's, so my mini-munch and I often had the opportunity to take a run together before his lesson began.

Thursday we skied in six inches of fresh powder...it was unreal!

The boys had a blast skiing with Oliver (and Henni) and I enjoyed catching up with their mom on the chairlift.

Noni was, as usual, an extraordinary hostess, and kept us fed, warm, and taken care of between ski sessions.

And between skiing and snowshoeing and shopping and puppet shows and library visits and old movies, we still found time for Minecraft.  We are officially OBSESSED.

We came home on Saturday, two days after Daddy's birthday.  We felt terrible being away for his special day, so we took him snow tubing in the spring-like weather on Sunday.

And although February provided its share of fun, I am not sorry to see it go tomorrow.  We have officially embraced winter.  Now bring on some spring!