Kid-Safe Music You Love

Tonight, I was searching the internet, hoping to find out who recorded the awesome steel drum version of Gary Numan's "Cars" that I heard in some teenybopper store in the mall. I am happy to announce that the artist is "The Katzenjammers" and you can listen to the track on Hype Machine by clicking here.

Then I said to myself, "You need a Clever Dad post for today. Take this information and make it into something about having kids."

"Okay," I replied.

And this is what I came up with:

If you're like me, there's a lot of music you enjoy that contains expletives, glorification of questionable behaviours, or confusing levels of irony. Now you have a baby, and you know there's a large chunk of your music collection that you feel you really shouldn't listen to while the kid is developing language skills or trying to develop mature and well-adjusted ways to interact with other humans. (Note: No, I do not listen to things that are completely in-SANE. I'm just saying there are some things that are mentioned in music that you'd like to put off explaining to your kid until he is at least potty trained.)

One way to continue to enjoy these songs in the presence of your adorable offspring is to track down instrumental covers of the tunes in question. What fun! Imagine the little tot dancing around in your living room with you to a family-friendly version of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax" (weird example - don't know why I picked it). How sweet!

This having been said, as far as I know anyone at any age can hear Gary Numan's "Cars" with no ill effects or awkward situations as a result. Nonetheless, have a listen to the cover above. It's steel drums. That is AWE-some!

Spring Cleaning, and an Epiphany Regarding Movies

I apologize for the unannounced absence at the end of last week. My wife and I took a couple of days off for spring cleaning as well as a genuine date. She's been reading the spring cleaning tips offered recently at MomAdvice's blog, which came in very handy as I tackled the fridge on Thursday.

We had a nice lunch and a matinee on Friday, and it was together alone time which we very much needed. One thing to note, though, is that the experience of going to a movie - though not unpleasant - made us rethink the economics of the whole endeavor. It cost us twelve bucks to go to a matinee. We didn't buy popcorn or candy or pop. It was twelve bucks for two people to go to a movie at one in the afternoon, and we still had to watch a steady stream of commercials before the previews started. And then the previews, instead of being a peek at movies we might actually want to see, were all advertisements for brutal torture porn. For less than twelve bucks, a couple could have an absolutely wonderful evening at a coffee shop or a nice drink and a game of darts in a pub. You could get a decent Netflix plan for twelve bucks a month. You could watch twelve RedBox new releases for that price. Yes, after this sudden realization, we may never again set foot in a movie theater.

What's the Matter with Teens These Days?

According to this article at Salon, maybe teens are doing okay - or at least not as badly as the older folks lament. In particular, this commentary explores how the internet has changed things for kids these days. Teens spend a lot of time on the internet and you can't throw a wireless mouse these days without it bopping someone on the head who is in the middle of explaining that the net is melting young people's brains right out of their skulls. But, the author says, like anything else new and revolutionary, there is good as well as bad. Teens are reading. Teens are socializing in a broader world. Teens are writing about themselves without being forced to in a classroom setting:

Or is it the older generation that the Internet has seduced -- into the inanities of leveling charges based on fear, ignorance and old-media, multiple-choice testing? So much so that we can't see that the Internet is only a means of communication, and one that has created a generation, perhaps the first, of writers, activists, storytellers? When the world worked in hard copy, no parent or teacher ever begrudged teenagers who disappeared into their rooms to write letters to friends -- or a movie review, or an editorial for the school paper on the first president they'll vote for. Even 15-year-old boys are sharing some part of their feelings with someone out there.

What's interesting about reading this is that I feel I fall somewhere in between the older and younger generations described here. I was in high school when everyone started getting internet access at home, so perhaps I identify more with the teens in question than with the concerned adults. I think the internet has enriched my life in many ways and encouraged communication with friends that I might otherwise have lost. I believe my overall ability to express myself through words has improved during the years I have spent keeping various personal blogs.

Though my inner curmudgeon does rear its head whenever I see a cell phone commercial that shows teens mindlessly texting "LOL ROFL!" to each other. I am still one who thinks sometimes silence is better than communication. We need downtime to process all this new information we have access to, and understand our relationship to it, and make some personal decisions about what information we will seek out and what is not worth our time.

A Little Trick to Make Parenting Magazines More Helpful

I was looking at an issue of Babytalk recently - one of the many free magazines available to new parents - and there was a nice article on how to make your weekends with baby less stressful and enjoy yourself. Sure, these magazines are full of advertisements for unnecessary, expensive products, but the content is often quite helpful and informative.

A trick I recently discovered to make them even more informative to the hands-on Clever Dad is this: When reading the articles, mentally replace the word "mom" with "dad" or "parent" wherever you see it. You'll find that suddenly these glossies are even more chock full of dad-appropriate information:

Magazine: Here are some tips to help moms on the go get things done while maintaining their sanity.

Dad: Huh? Oh, not for me, I guess...

Magazine (corrected): Here are some tips to help parents on the go get things done while maintaining their sanity.

Dad: Yay! That's me! I'm a parent!

It's a wonder the magazines don't just do this themselves and save me the mental energy!