Food For Thought Friday: Music Makes the World Go 'Round

Here's a cute story about a mom who was never going to "let" her child listen to any of that "kid" music. You know the stuff voiced by someone doing a cartoon character or something, and playing nothing that resembles a hard rockin' guitar. This mom said, "to appreciate good music, and child must listen to good music." Which meant that the child would listen to whatever music the mom wanted to listen to given her mood. This was mostly Tom Jones, which some may consider abuse, but those people just have not yet been enlightened.  Did I mention that this mom was me?

Do I need to tell you the pain and suffering that I endured when somehow the vocal stylings of a big red monster whose most popular song is all about the song that he wrote, and is cleverly titled, "Elmo's Song," won out over the superior vocals of my boyfriend Bono backed up by the shredding guitar of the Edge? Surely something has gone wrong.

To be fair, my kids all enjoy equal parts Elmo and U2. They can groove to the Laurie Berkner band just as easily as they can jam to They Might Be Giants. There is some really cool "kid" music out there. However, what really matters is that they are exposed to music at all.  Music has been proven to do all kinds of cool things from a very very young age, and while I was not one of those moms who pumped Mozart through headphones attached to my generous pregnant waist whilst I grew and nurtured life, I was definitely was one of those moms who would turn my car stereo to 11 in the event that my kids could make out my favorite song (and would tell myself that indeed that kicking and shoving I felt was their own person First Avenue style in-utero mosh pit).

Now, we have a tradition of Lindstrom Family dance parties. The only rule is groove to the music, however you are moved to. It works. Sometimes we're grooving to the Imagination Movers (whom, by the way, fall squarely into my cool kids music category), and sometimes the grooving is a little more to the Sam Cooke end, but either way, my children are being exposed to music, learning their own musical preferences, and gaining all the benefits to listening to music can lend.

What kind of music do your kids get down to?

Want to know more about how children respond to and learn from music? Check out It's My Baby Blog today for some tips!