** In honor of Earth Week, I've decided to "recycle" some of my previous posts. **Since having Miss Emi, or as my husband and I like to refer to her, "Augustus" (Gloop from the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie), we have dreaded the day when we would have to start censoring our iPod selections in the car. While reading Francesca's recent Points of Joy post, the photo that resonated with me most was of her favorite channel on XM radio. For those of you who don't know Francesca personally, she is quite "street" when it comes to her music. Don't let her approachable, friendly, sweet face fool you. The girl doesn't mess around when it comes to her music. One word for you: "Friends" by Whodini. (You have to love the very "street" spelling of his name!) This is one of her FAVORITE songs. She knows all of the lyrics, which is quite impressive.
Recently, my sister brought to my attention that Jay-Z's "H to the Izzo" and Kanye's "Flashing Lights" were not appropriate for Augustus. What? My immediate response was, "Who cares what she listens to?" The songs have a great beat. Besides, she doesn't know what they are saying. Have you ever listened to these songs? Fabulous!
Since I did not quickly respond to her concerns, my sister bought Emi two children's CDs for her birthday: Raffi, which is alright only because I already know all the songs, and another CD, not worth mentioning. (Sorry Mo!) Listening to these CDs a few times got me thinking that I will insane if I have to listen to Raffi for the next 10 years. Can I really make that sacrifice? Who are we kidding? NO.
So here is my top five recommendations you AND your little one can both enjoy (or at least you can enjoy and not feel guilty about it!). They are in no particular order.
1. Rockabye Baby by Radiohead! My husband made this purchase. There are really no lyrics. The company also offers a ton of other popular artist versions like Coldplay, Nirvana, Bob Marley, etc.
2. Sing-a-longs and lullabies by Jack Johnson. Some very cute songs. I love the "We are going to be friends" remake.
3. Baby Loves Hip Hop Presents the Dino-5. My husband and I are both big Jurassic 5 fans and one of the lead singers is in this group. It's very cute and very hip. Baby Loves also produces great Baby Loves Jazz CDs.
4. Play by Various Artist. For those of you that appreciate house or electronica, this is the CD for you and your kid.
5. Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits by Vince Guaraldi. This is one of my favorites, especially around this time of year. Great to play in the car when you are starting (or finishing) your holiday shopping! Agh.
Enjoy!
-Kacey
38 comments:
We didn't censor our playlists until our little guy started asking what certain words and phrases meant. Then it was Raffi and Yo Gabba Gabba all the way!
Although, if I have to hear about a Party in Brobee's tummy ONE MORE TIME .... well, let's just say it MAY or MAY NOT be the death of me.
I just got the Charlie Brown holiday CD this past Christmas, and I love it! I'll have to check out some of the others. ;)
this is a funny post to me.....because my kids are at the age that they are telling me{if i say..oh i like this song}.....you probably would not like this song if you knew what they were REALLY saying!!!!!!
Fantastic! But I would have to add "For the Kids" to this list. A must-have. :)
You can't go wrong with Veggie tales if you ask me. Strong moral messages meet singing vegetables, what's not to like??
BlogBaby
I had to censor when my little one started singing along with some of the songs. Now my kids are older I don't worry....as much.
So far, we don't censor. We just tell them which words they should not get in the habit of saying or it could cause trouble in school. I find there's far more uproar with kids who are over censored... Giving words too much power causes trouble. I've seen them in class..some kid will say something fairly tame (like crap, or butt) and then they all have to ah-oooo, and then argue about whether or not it's actually a bad word. My 8yo dropped the s-word here and there after he heard it in a movie, until we reminded him that maybe he shouldn't. So he didn't. No big deal. Same with 'freakin' or 'flippin' we told him it could be be misunderstood. Maybe he shouldn't use it? Left it up to him, and so far, he has a civil tongue. My 6yo curses like SpongeBob - oh Tartar Sauce! Barnacles!
btw - If you like Disney movies, Amazon carries some CD collections of movie favorites, original songs/artists from the movies, not annoying remakes.
Oh, I'm SO with you on the wack children's music. I don't let the kids listen to (too much) Jay-Z and Kanye, but I do make a point of creating kid-friendly playlists so that we ALL can enjoy what we're listening to in the car or in the kitchen while dinner is being prepared. India.Aire, Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Maxwell, and a steady diet of Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, The Police, U2, and Chaka Khan help keep us entertained without me having to keep my fingers on the fast forward buttons... LOL! I think the kids are getting a fine education in GOOD music this way. And good for you for rebelling against Raffi and those god awful kid's ceedees... argh!
My daughter also curses Barnacles! But she is only 4, so she probably should not be watching Spongebob, but that's another story.
I make up rhyming phrases words for her when she asks questions about certain songs. 'Hope it gives you hell' becomes 'hope it keeps you well'..and so on.
and if anyone of you have ever felt the need to pee in peace, there is a petition to sign at my place.
Petition to pee in peace.
every sign counts. Maybe this will help keep the kids out of the bathroom while we are in there.
Charlie Brown rules.
One of you guys emailed me- something about chit chat, but there was no body to the email!
We try to censor. But my 8 year old likes normal music, and my babies could care less about anything babyish. Let Beyonce's "Sinlge Ladies" song come on and Connor starts dancing like a mad man. He is slightly infatuated with her. Braden (he's 3) is into ROCK. And plays a mean air guitar. Savanna doesn't care. She is a channel flipper. Let her near anything with more than one option and she will sit there happily flipping for HOURS!
I really love Jack Johnson! We have the Curious George soundtrack and we pull it out and listen now and then. I also love his Banana Pancakes song!
No censoring here, but after Baby Chicklet broke out with "I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It" at church preschool, we DO have to say she's not allowed to sing certain songs. In certain places. :)
Actually, I have to admit I love that song by Whodini too!! That takes me waaayyyy back to high school!!!
My kids have never really been into the children's singing groups, other than Wiggles and Imagination Movers (the ones they see on tv). When I've bought other music CD's for them to listen to, they just don't seem to like it. But they do like mine and my husband's music so I've started buying them those Kidz Bop CD's!! They're perfect for them because the songs are hits that are popular now but edited appropriately for young children and the songs are sung by children.
They had a Fergie song on one of the CD's and it had to be seriously edited but my kids never seemed to notice!
it's kids music, but most of the songs don't feel like it - so I am a big fan of Elizabeth Mitchell's 'You are my little bird'.
love your recycling!!
xo
These are some great recommendations :) You have great taste!
My daughter just started listening to cd's this year. She's pretty much hooked on the Imagination Movers, which is okay with me and hubby (I would say they're SKA influenced). May just have to check out some of those others.
I came to that realisation when my daughter got her iPod for Christmas...I needed to censor my selections. I wanted her to enjoy music without the extraneous info.
Thanks for this post.
oh Kacey! thanks for taking the time to link all these fabulous CDs me and Nicky (19 months) were listening to bits and pieces and he loved them so we will have to go to iTunes to purchase some music:)
When my kids were growing up there wasn't to much on the air you had to censor...those were the days. I don't envy you having to make these choices.
These are great! Thanks for the recommendations! I would say Go Fish is a good choice, too. :)
I know, we had a few thing to explain about Flo Rida's "Big Booty" song. (Low) Like, 'Why did he say give that big booty a smack?" ha ha
Yeah, that is one thing I'm not looking forward to when becoming a parent. But I do love that Jack Johnson lullaby CD, I listen to that now and I don't even have kids!
We've not really had to censor what our kids listen to (although, I'm not chomping at the bit to let them listen to Brittany or Eminem (he's on hubby's ipod) - thankfully, my kids are perfectly content with the country radio station (even though I sometimes switch stations when certain songs come on), or the Christian radio station. Right now we listen to alot of High School Musical and Hannah Montana.
it happens...we are madly in love with the laurie berkner band...super fun, doesn't drive you crazy as a mom either. and elizabeth mitchell is good too...and you can't go wrong with veggie rocks...veggie tales done by christian rock artists! hilarious!
We downloaded a bunch of my daughters favorite songs from the radio for a CD for her, then realized when listening that we did not download the "radio version", apparently even Avril Lavigne uses the F word these days! I want that Kids Bop, but it is kind of a rip!
Great! Thanks for the recommendations. I love Jack Johnson, so I will be looking into purchasing that one!
Thanks for these ideas. We listen to all kinds of music in our house also. Some my not be for her but we can just push on thorough it. Have a great day.
Great list!!!
I also love to listen and sing to musicals for Delia. :)
I'm with Francesca. My dirty little secret is I love lifting weights and driving to rap. Old school Snoop, Dre, the dirtiest Eminem....
I may look cute, but I'm thugalicious....
And I'm NEVER buying children's music. That's what country music is for...
You crack me up, I didn't worry about music until Cole got older. The beat is great ... LOL
Love that picture by the way, so needed a giggle!
Wait until they bring home a friends CD like my son did and you realize hearing it across the house; that its this band you hated yourself and swore they would never do things like that- Slip Knot, Gwar, Korn...
In our car when the kids were growing up I had a different radio station day for each day of the week, and they got to pick one (2 kids)...so it was Pop on Monday, Classic Rock on Tuesday, Classical Music on Wednesday, Country on...you get the hint, but my son still went through his hard core phase, but now I am glad to say, he reverted back to what we had done... When he went off to college two years ago he took the veggie tale and musical videos with him...I kept the disney ones for the future grandkids :)
recycling posts is brilliant, simply brilliant!
I can't believe you didn't mention
"They Might Be Giants"! They have a whole children's CD on letters and numbers that is quite fabulous and fun. They also have a video podcast showing music videos of those songs that is really really cool. My daughter loves it and watches it pretty much non-stop.
Great musical suggestions!
Joy, via Welcomistas
I LOVE JACK JOHNSON'S MUSIC!!! A guitar style to aspire to, for sure.
And great recycling of posts, Girl!!
I think it is time to start censoring our playlists, seeing as my 5-year-olds favorite song is Womanizer by Britney Spears.
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