I'm not cool, and I'm cool with that.

 I've run dry after creating over twenty different "Crazy Theo Fart Stories" (see previous post). To give myself a break, I try to distract Char with music during our car ride to daycare.

When she was an infant we listened to the Doors, Bob Marley, The Stone Roses, the Beatles... I didn't pick anything that was too jarring. Now Charlotte can voice an opinion, and she doesn't want anything to do with "grown up music". Here's a short list of what's in our cars.

If you've listened to 90's alternative music, then you'll recognize Chris Ballew's voice. He's the lead singer for the Presidents of the United States (hits include "Lump, "Peaches", and "Kitty"). His Caspar Babypants songs are about animals and insects, and they're catchy as all get-out. I haven't heard his newest release, Night Night!, but I'd recommend it anyway. Mr. Ballew's songs are great, and I dare you to not sing along with him.

I spotted this release at the library, and although I'd had not heard of 60's folk singer Tom Glazer, I thought his music looked like fun. I got lucky. Tom Glazer Sings Honk-Hiss-Tweet-GGGGGGGGGG and Other Children's Favorites is a compilation of Mr. Glazer's live performances. Firmly set in the 60's, his songs include standards at the time ("I Know and Old Lady"), original takes on old standards ("On Top of Spaghetti" and "Big Rock Candy Mountain"), Scottish ballads ("Three Crows"), and songs he made up on the spot ("Come Down the Aisle" may be my favorite track). There are a few songs recorded in the studio, but their polish lacks the shine of his interaction with the children in the audience. Char loves to giggle along with the other kids; I think it makes her feel like she part of their group. When she was three years old, Char once commented at the end of a song, "Good job, Tom." High praise indeed.

Another alternative band that was popular in the 80's and 90's is They Might Be Giants. I still have my cassette tape of Lincoln, and I still play it on my home stereo. Their three children's releases (Here Comes the ABCs, Here Comes the 123s, and Here Comes Science) are rarely out of the car. "High Five" is the first song we ever heard Char sing from memory. I suppose she was about two years old at the time. We were pushing her in a swing at the park, and she just started singing, "High Five! Up top! Low five! Don't stop! Slap me five! Whoooo! Keep it cool! Old School!" 

Surprised, I turned to Daphne and said, "I guess she's really listening in the car. " 

Daphne replied, "I guess she really likes it!'  

(If I was a major league baseball player I'd want the park to play a snippet of "High Five" while I was walking to bat.)

Strange connection:  In 1993 They Might Be Giants covered the song "Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)" which originally appeared on Tom Glazer's album Space Songs (1959).

Here's our newest selection from the library.

Not much to say about this that hasn't been said already. Like every other kid who has seen the movie, Char really enjoys singing "Let it Go". The rest of the songs are equally good, and they worm their way into your brain like a popcorn kernel between your teeth. This morning the first thought I had while standing by the bed was, "The window is open! So's that door! I didn't know they did that anymore..." Oh man, that's gotta stop.

I can do a pretty good impression of "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People", though.

I used to switch to my CDs when Char got out of the car, but that's too big of a hassle. Now I just keep her music playing. Sometimes students in the parking lot will give me weird looks if they hear me playing "For the First Time in Forever" with the windows down. But I don't care. Being cool is last thing on my "to do" list. 

I'm just trying to survive parenthood in one piece.

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