Kids

Magicially Delicious Music

/ Deb / 1 Comment

The occasion: A “Rock Star” practice for my daughter’s softball team, the Lucky Charms.  Her assignment:  Team DJ, tasking her with creating an iPod mix to play on a boombox at practice.  The girls could dress like rock stars, dance, and play some softball while they were at it.

Her team has played together for three years, and watching them serves as a reminder of all that is good about being a young girl, and being on a team.  They are sweet and funny and do lots of silly cheers, but make no mistake – they are hitters and will run you down when necessary.

So she and I sat down at the computer, going through my iTunes library, with her giving a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to each song I suggested.  We’ve been down this road before; both of my kids have created lots of mixes (“I’d Choose Creme Brulee”).  For their own use, they have talked me into songs that would never have otherwise made their way into my iTunes — yes, Katy Perry and “Party Rockers” LMFAO, I am talking about you.

For this occasion, she had specific criteria in mind.  Some of her usual favorites were rejected as being too slow or too “embarrassing” (what?), and at least one song was selected because “it’s so weird, my friends have to hear it!”  Predictably, any song with “girl” in it made the cut, as did anything by Michael Jackson.  I was proud of her for adding The Beatles’  “Eleanor Rigby”, and while she does love that song, I’m guessing she added it as tribute to her friend of the same name.

Marrying my husband has made me appreciate bands like AC/DC, Bon Jovi, KISS, et. al.  I never listened to those bands back in the day (in fact, I was scared of the KISS album covers that the older neighbor boys had), but it is the music of my husband’s youth.   And when you merge your lives and your CD’s, eventually you acquire a taste for the music of your loved one.   [Well, within limits – I’m still never listening to Pink Floyd.  (“Heaven From Hell…..Guess Which This is”)].

“You MUST put some AC/DC on there”, my husband said.   And he had a good point.  Think about it – what was the song that got people on the dance floor at your prom?  Or at a wedding with an otherwise lame DJ? (All the more reason to not have dancing – “The Beginning of the Soundtrack”).  Or, in recent years, at your kids’ school auction?  (WW’ers….you know who you are).

That’s right – AC/DC’s “Shook Me All Night Long” is always a sure thing.  Obviously I’m revealing my 1980’s/40-something demographic here, but really – try it and you will see what I am talking about.

I played the iconic opening guitar riff of that song.
Her blue eyes widened……”YES!” she said.
And so it begins.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

/ Deb / 1 Comment

When your son is fanatic about baseball, he might one day pay you the ultimate compliment.   He will hold it back until the perfect situation arises, when this — the highest of compliments — can be appropriately handed out.  And, this past weekend, it happened at my house:

“Mom, if I were describing this breakfast in baseball terms, it would be a walk-off grand slam home run in Game 7 of the World Series, bottom of the ninth, full count, with two outs”.

(And to the rest of us:  homemade waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, with a side of bacon.)

Quiet 13

/ Deb / 1 Comment

Sometimes you have to to do things just to prove to yourself that you can do it.  No, I am not talking about the half marathon that I ran recently.  I knew I could run the 13.1 miles.  What I didn’t know is that I could run them without listening to music.   I’m usually plugged in, and I take my playlist seriously (“The Sweatiest Music”).

I boarded the race shuttle early that morning with all necessary gear — bib number, timing chip, iPod….but no headphones.  If you had supersonic hearing, you would have heard a thunderous “F**K!!!” emanating from my head when I discovered it.  I’ve done short runs without music, and it’s fine, but a two hour run?  When the momentary sense of panic wore off, I resigned myself to a quiet run and figured that it could be worse.

This being the “Rock n Roll” marathon, bands were stationed along the route, and that was nice, but not the same.  It got me thinking though — if I were the event organizer, I would station a big-name band somewhere along the route.  How funny would it be to see people really surprised?  Maybe the serious runners would not notice, and run on by.  Me, though — I love running, but not enough to avoid stopping and watching one of my favorite bands.

The upside of the quiet run was that I got to hear the conversations of the people running near me.  There were a lot of exchanges that I started calling “No Man Left Behind”, all going something like this:

“You go on without me; this is ridiculous, I can’t keep up”
“No.  No!!  We agreed to do this together, I’m not leaving you!”

The other common theme – spousal bickering: “Well!  If you don’t want to listen to me talk, then don’t run by me!  Whatever!!”   (I could relate to that poor guy.  I didn’t want to run by his wife, either.)

After the finish, there was a little post-race concert with NW mid-90’s darling, Everclear.   Bar Exam memories aside,  (“Heroin Girl, or Heroine Girl?”), it was fun to reflect on how much had changed since the last time I saw them, that summer so long ago (especially the fact that this time, I had two kids with me).   They didn’t sound great, and lead singer Art Alexakis is the only original member, but it was entertaining all the same.

I swear to you on Eddie Vedder that I am not exaggerating this next part.  It is hilarious yet troubling, and if it’s any indication of what’s to come during her teenage years, her dad and I are in for quite a ride.

My daughter decided that she wanted the lead singer to see her rocking out.  My husband held her up and she fist-pumped during the songs, waving at Art Alexakis and trying to get him to point to her.  “Closer!” she said, so she and I crept closer to the stage, leaving the men behind (familiar territory…. although normally my partners in crime are my sisters).   When the show ended, Art knelt down at the edge of the stage and shook hands with those who could reach him.

We were a few rows back, so he waved to my daughter and said “Hi sweetie, how are you?”   She waved back, answered “Good!”, and announced to me that she was ready to leave.  The lead singer had now been informed that she was there, and her work was done.

The Last Show Before Everything Changed

/ Deb / 3 Comments

Remember Pete Yorn?  He had a catchy hit back in 2001, and a great album, musicforthemorningafter.  Pete weighs heavily in my musical past for two reasons.  First, in the days before iPods, his CD was in heavy rotation on a fabulous road trip my husband and I took that summer, and, second, he was the last show I saw before finding out we were pregnant with our first child.

We saw him at The Showbox in the late fall of 2001.  I love that venue, and it was a fun show – pretty mellow, good people-watching.  What was unique was that it was just the two of us.  Usually we attended shows with other people, but that night was just us.  I wore jeans and sassy boots, and we had a great time. 

On Christmas Day, we found out we were expecting our first child.  (The best Christmas present ever, yes?)  That show became etched in my brain as the last time that we were out on the town just as “us”….not us plus “Lil’ B”, our in utero nickname for our oldest.

I had a vaguely defined goal that I would be a hip pregnant woman, and an even hipper mom.  Nothing would slow me down.   I went to a few mellow concerts while I was pregnant, and I even went to Las Vegas (which really sucks when all you want to do is sleep).   The line was drawn, however, at The Gorge.  I bought tickets for the Sasquatch Festival but ultimately, while six months pregnant, sitting out in the desert heat (in the midst of neighboring herbal fumes) just didn’t seem like a great idea.  Also influencing that decision was the fact that my mother had threatened an intervention –  something along the lines of, “over my dead body are you taking my yet-to-be-born grandchild to that concert in the middle of nowhere”.  My sisters went without me, sold my tickets alongside the road, and I spent the weekend at home, nesting.  It was all OK.

Everyone who is a parent knows how hard it is to remember what it was like before the little ones came into your lives.  In the years since then, we’ve talked about that Pete Yorn show and always say, “wait…..who babysat?”, before realizing that no babysitter was yet needed.

If you know me, then you understand that I am overly sentimental.  Commercials make me cry, and my kids give me sideways glances at sad parts of movies, knowing that I will be crying.  So I am a sucker for this: TONIGHT – two kids, many shows, and a Big Birthday later – Pete Yorn is playing at the Showbox (SoDo location, but still!!).  I am looking forward to a date night out with my husband, and I know that the evening will be filled with nostalgia for me.   I still have the same jeans and sassy boots – although I probably won’t wear them – but I am so happy that, after all these years and through so many changes, my sweetie will still be at my side.

I’d Choose Creme Brulee

/ Deb / Leave a comment

I have a new favorite misinterpretation of a song lyric.  This time, it’s from my own family:

At her request, I made my daughter a mix CD.  I picked a bunch of songs and let her listen to them, then she picked which ones should make the final cut.  It’s an eclectic mix that isn’t entirely grade-school appropriate, from Dispatch to The Beastie Boys, John Denver (!!!), and Kid-n-Play.  I even indulged her and downloaded a Katy Perry song from iTunes, which I have lived to regret.

One of her favorites on the CD is a Michael Franti song, “Hello Bonjour”.  She likes the catchy rhythm, and I think the song has a lovely message.

The opening line is: “I don’t need a passport/to walk on this earth/anywhere I go ’cause I was made of this earth”. 

The other day, she was singing along in her room, organizing little treasures on top of her desk, in the way that only little girls do.   Suddenly the door opened and she stuck her head into the hallway:  “Mom, is he saying ‘I am made of DESSERT’?”

So sweet and funny, that little girl of mine.  She just might be made of dessert.

You Know I Would

/ Deb / 1 Comment

My six year old daughter has a new favorite song.  She asks for it every time we get in the car, and I am happy to play it, especially if it holds off any discovery of Miley Cyrus for at least a few more years.

Luckily, I have three versions of “Out Loud” by Dispatch…ranging from acoustic to a raucous live version with a children’s choir, to suit her every mood (and mine).  She knows all the words and sings them with a sweet little toothless grin.

She doesn’t know it, but I love watching her when music is on.  No matter what she’s doing, if it’s a song she likes, she’ll start grooving in a mindless, automatic kind of way.   She’ll give her opinion on any song, and her favorites are usually some of mine too.   Is she going to be the barefoot dancing girl in the flowy skirt at concerts 15 years from now?  I don’t know, but I sure love that she loves music too.

Today I listened to Out Loud without her around and suddenly it hit me, enough to bring tears to my eyes:

“If you were out walking, heard the cold night coming, would you call my name, cause you know I’d come running.”

No longer just a profession of love, this song has become, to me, an anthem to a mom’s love, and her kids growing up way too fast.  At least for now, both of my kids will still hold my hand in public, and I treasure it every time.