Observations Part 1

My girls have recently discovered their love for music. The kind of love that makes you belt out a tune like no one can hear you, dance in front of the mirror and LOVE what you see, or scramble for a piece of paper to PLAY-furiously write lyrics (as you understand them) then STOP-SKIP BACK-REPEAT AS NECESSARY. I love that the girls love music. When I was pregnant with Ava, she would start kicking up a storm in utero whenever I played Jeff Buckley (anything) or Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon). Of course, I got the same reaction from eating bananas while I was pregnant with her and that resulted in her vomiting up and adamantly refusing bananas as a toddler. So, draw your own conclusion there. But, in Madison she was happiest running around naked to Bob Marley, or Tim Penn, or any local peacenik making music. Again, draw your own conclusion. She was decidedly NOT part of the minority in any of that behavior. In our house though, you are far more likely to find music as opposed to the TV. In Madison, we had a family dance party every single solitary night after dinner. With everything we've gotten involved in since moving back to Bismarck, though, dance parties have been hard to come by. On the weekends still it is a near constant onslaught of music. Old and new. I've gotten a bit off track. The girls have found their own voice in music. By way of Kidzbop. Here's the thing, it is a form of music, sure. But what you don't know about Kidzbop, "Music for kids by kids", is that their selection process for finding these kids who "sing" is relatively simple. Or, perhaps, nonexistent. They are not good. Someone dressed these children up like rock stars and said "You are amazing! Sing it as loud as you can and dance at the same time! You're a STAR!". Well, my girls have been bit by the Kidzbop bug. We bought the girls their very own noise-cancelling earphones a while back for flights. They have been miraculous investments until now. Now what happens is my girls plug the earphones into their Leappads and rock out to the PURCHASED Kidzbop. It seemed like such a great idea. As Jeff said, "there is musical talent flowing on both sides of the family, we cannot stifle that". This man is so patient. I, however, was changing the sheets on the girls' bunk beds (a process which under the best conditions is painful and frustrating) while I was first indoctrinated into this new musical world of theirs. The girls have large mirrored closet doors in their room. So, here they are, noise-cancelling earphones on, 5 wardrobe changes past, and they are singing their perfect little hearts out. Just belting it out. And dancing. Sophia yells "I don't even know what Spanish they're talking about!" Ava answers with "We should start a band!" Sophia looks like Ava just proposed sacrificing all the snugglies to honor some questionable Greek god. They have no idea what the other one is saying, but neither one knows this. Ava's soothes Sophia's worried glance by saying "Don't worry! I'll be in charge of singing! You just dance!" Ava decides at this point she needs to begin writing her own lyrics. As she's taking her earphones off, Sophia repeats in her most loving this moment screaming voice "I don't even know what Spanish they're talking about!". Ava now sees she's started a band with someone who may not be the asset she'd assumed and says in a regular human conversational level voice "That's kind of the point. They aren't singing in Spanish." Cue Sophia "I don't know!! But I love it!"

So, this is what we hear now when the girls have down time. The screaming of Kidzbop. But, my girls are good girls, kind and sensitive and smart as a whip. So, it makes me smile because I know someday when they're older and finally telling their aging parents live concert stories from college in hopes to entertain, but not kill, we will break this one out. And remind them that "its not about the bunny, bunny, bunny. Its not about the bunny, bunny, bunny. We juss hmnanana ba ba..."