I Wanna Destroy You

One of the many reasons we elected to have children was the opportunity to impose our taste in music on the impressionable spongy brains of our offspring- the fledgling brains that still believe their parents (us) are cool, know everything there is to know about everything, and who chose to be parents over being famous experimental artists by day/touring musicians by night. Before the world tells them otherwise. Indeed, having kids has many selfish advantages for the parent, but the one that I recognize most often is the challenge/mission to create life that will steer clear of Hannah Montana. Or worse.

There's no way to disguise my pride on the matter- my children don't really like kid's music. In fact, they don't really even know that it exists, give or take an "I'm a Little Teapot" or "Wheels on the Bus". They've been given cds containing such music over the years, but inevitably the tunes are revised (by them) with lyrics that involve their body parts or bodily functions. After putting out the "adapted by the White sisters" fire, we felt they were not missing much in the way of children's music.

I do realize that my children are no different than any others out there... they're not immune to the tempting sounds of bubblegum pop. Fiona just recently watched a Jonas Brother's show on the Today Show, asking "who are these boys?", with stars in her eyes. I won't be able to supress the natural ugly urges that come with tweenhood, or sheild her from the world of advertisement-laden attire. (But I can try, right???) However, in the meantime, I'll love every minute that I hear my children singing this to each another from their bedroom:

I Wanna Destroy You - The Soft Boys

Am I bragging? Yes. And believe me, there's more where this comes from. (As St. Patty's Day approaches, I'm sure I'll be posting more about their love for the Pogues.) There's nothing impressive about my playing music that I like for them. But what is amazing is how they both remembered the lyrics (Neve is only 3!) weeks later, as they played naked-Barbie-fight. {I'm beaming with pride.}

After listening to them sing it, I showed them the album cover.
Fiona used to love staring at this album when she was younger, long before she made the connection that this belonged to that song. Terry and I would laugh like crazy as we watched her study it with a furrowed brow. "What could se be thinking?", I remember us asking each other. Well, Neve answered that question for us, as she looked at it for the first time recently.

Neve: {studying it for about 30 seconds}

"I hate it."

{pause, eyes still fixed on it}

"They are ugly."

{pause}

"It's scaring me. Will you take it?"

It must have scared her too much to actually hand it to me, because I had to pull it off her lap, her hands in the air.

Me: "Why is it scary?"

Neve: {scowling} "I don't know. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

The End.