The Praise Baby Collection

Groovy boys - by Christine

In this home, we like to dance.

My twin sons are two years old, and they have an uncanny grasp of rhythm. Therefore, they dance. They dance to fast music. They dance to slow music. They dance to commercial jingles. They dance to the thumping bass of a passing car. They dance to the hokey farm-themed twang of their Old McDonald See ‘n Say.

They dance to anything.

You’d think my husband and I would be long past our delight at this phenomenon. You’d think we would be immune to the cuteness that is a chubby, stumbly toddler bending ever so slightly at the knees, sticking out his booty, and quickly bobbing up and down to the beat of whatever song is filling his brain. But we aren’t, and after nearly a year of seeing this sight repeated time and time again every day, we still laugh, point, and take pictures.

So, needless to say, music is pretty important to us. Thanks to the beauty of downloadable digital music files and radio station podcasts, we have just about any and every song imaginable at our fingertips, and we do our best to put together playlists of songs that especially appeal to our boys. We even have a special playlist titled “Jack’s Dance Mix” for those particular times when music is the only thing that will soothe the savage beasts.

We also rely on old school technology, namely vinyl record albums. We buy musicals (chief favorite: Fiddler on the Roof), fast Irish reels, visions of pop from yesteryear (more favorites: Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson), roaring cathedral hymns, and old kid-themed albums. Baylor and Jack already, at their tender age, know how to lift the lid off of the player, insert an album oh-so-gently, close the lid, and press the “start” button.

And as soon as that needle hits the grooves, they’re off, swaying to the rhythm.

Rarely a moment goes by that the soundtrack of our life isn’t playing in the background. If the playlist stops, the boys rush over to the docking station, reaching as high as they can to fiddle with the resting iPod. If the record runs its course, they risk raising their mom’s ire by deftly lifting the lid of the player, seeing if they can’t flip Thriller over themselves.

Why music has manifested itself as such a continual, necessary presence is beyond me. I didn’t really think we were a constant music-listening sort of family. Sure, I’m musical. I’ve been playing the piano for nearly 20 years, so naturally I am sensitive to good music. And their dad intentionally seeks out new, indie labels to support, so we have always listened to offbeat bands. But now that we have children, music is ever-present, a constant companion, a vital component and vivid thread in the tapestry of our days. We are learning to be sensitive about what we choose, to expose them to only the best, and to instill in them a love of what they are hearing.

And if our eternal reward for such careful choosing is the presence of two grooving boys in our midst, then we have done a good thing. A very good thing.

You can read more posts by this author at www.keepingupwiththecases.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 at 6:09 pm and is filed under Education, Growth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.