Playlist.

M and I aren't big on most of the music made specifically for kids. I think that years of hearing the Barney theme song while I babysat or, more recently, having to listen to Elmo sing about everything from cats to clothes using the same tune has created an innate aversion to sugary lyrics and melodies. To be fair, there are exceptions. For example, the compilation album Do Fun Stuff, Volume 1, which was curated by Ryan of Pacing the Panic Room, is a great collection of folk music for kids. (It was sold to benefit support and research for persons with Smith-Magenis Syndrome, which you can learn more about on Ryan's blog. He stopped adding new blog entries this summer, but it remains on the web for your perusal.) The whole album is great (you can hear the entire collection here), but my favorites are "Ladybug" by Rabbit!, "Morton the Caterpillar" by Davey Rocker and "Nothing" by Steve Foxbury. "Nothing" makes me cry most of the time when I hear it...the chorus perfectly captures my feelings about the Numa and now about Her Highness (HH for short):

There's nothing

I'd rather do

Than anything

That I do with you.

This album aside, the kid songs I like are few and far between. When the Numa was little, he and I listened to a great variety of music, including "The Trolley Song" from Meet Me in St. Louis, "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted and "California Gurls" by Katie Perry. For a while nothing put him to sleep faster than me strapping him into the Sleepy Wrap and dancing to "Gold Digger" (the Glee Version). I am not destined for a profitable career in music, but I do have a decent singing voice and I used it frequently to calm and amuse a baby Numa. The number of times I have sung the chorus of the title song from Meet Me in St. Louis is too great to count. Fortunately, the Numa has always been happy to listen to our playlists and he has developed some pretty awesome taste in music. M is an electronic music guy (and used to be a DJ) while I tend to prefer 80's hair bands and indie rock. Because of this, some of the Numa's recent favorites have included the following (links go to YouTube or soundcloud):

Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode

Hurting (Tensnake remix) by the Friendly Fires

Night Out (Madeon remix) by Martin Solveig

The City by Madeon

Pop Culture (Live Mashup) by Madeon (the Numa loves watching this one on YouTube because of the light-up buttons)

All My Life by Gigamesh

Love Letter to Japan and Diamond Dave by The Bird and the Bee

This is the Life by Two Door Cinema Club

(Clearly he is spending more time in the car with M these days than me.)

I love that he listens to and likes all of this music and I love that he is constantly singing music of all kinds. And, of course, when he comes home proudly singing a new song from school we sing along. But it is lovely that car rides are enjoyable for all of us.

Be well,

Me