Return of the son of stuff YUPPIE parents like

Brett Singer — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Because too much is never enough. And besides, didn't you want to see this photo at least one more time?

1. Organic everything: from a commenter. I've succumbed to some of this, partly because, living in Manhattan, the cost difference isn't as great as it used to be, and sometimes the quality is better. I also admit that I feel less guilt giving my kids "organic" pre-packaged crap than I do giving them "chemical-laden" pre-packaged crap. It's still crap, but it's ORGANIC crap.

2. Classes and activities: yes, from the same commenter. She said, "mommy and me classes" but in my experience it's much more than that. Around here, it seems like everyone has their kids doing something all flippin' day. A parent once told me that she didn't understand why Kindergarten went until 3pm; she wished it ended at noon so her kid could take advantage of everything Manhattan had to offer. I replied that I thought Kindergarten should go until 8pm. We don't talk much anymore.

3. Kids' music that parents can enjoy: All parents have benefited from the boom in kiddie rock. While I am of course very glad that children's music has evolved beyond Raffi (who really isn't that bad) and Kidz Bop (which is), sometimes this preciousness can go a little too far. Sure, anything by Dan Zanes or The Dirty Sock Funtime Band is better than Barney's Greatest Hits, but a little James Taylor, Peter Paul and Mary, The Beatles – lots of great "adult" music out there that kids might like.

4. Taking their children to live rock 'n' roll shows: "Alternadad" Neal Pollack brought his little one to see The Hives, a rather loud quasi-punk act. I spotted two sets of parents who had dragged their children to see Yaz at the Beacon theater (I myself was dragged by my wife, but that's another story). When commenters on Gawker are giving good parenting advice ("Neil [sic], seriously--ear plugs"), you know something is out of whack in the universe.

5. Anything that isn't made of granite. At least after we found out about the radiation.

For more, click here.

image: nostalgiacentral.com

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BZ (Beyond Zanes): Music my kids like that isn't "kids music"

Brett Singer — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:15:00 GMT

You know all the usual players - Dan Zanes. Laurie Berkner. Milkshake. The Dirty Sock Funtime Band. And maybe Raffi if you want to kick it old-school. (Baby Beluga in the hizzouse! OK, I'll stop now.) Nothing wrong with any of it. But there's other tunage out there that will make the kids get up and shake it like a Polaroid picture. Here's some that my offspring have enjoyed:

	Abba: I don't know why but the Swedish quartet used to work wonders on long car trips. ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits was the CD of choice, although the Mamma Mia! London cast recording was a hit as well.
	Peter Paul and Mary: This one may not be a surprise to you, but it's also sort of like Purloined Music - hidden in plain sight unless you know where to look. I picked up a cassette copy of their Greatest Hits in a bargain bin and for a year it was in permanent rotation in Thing 1's mini boom box.
	James Taylor: Perhaps this is also not a surprise entry but it's not quite as obvious a choice as the authors of "Puff the Magic Dragon." JT's Greatest Hits has "Sweet Baby James", "Shower The People" and lots more. The version we have is on cassette (same bargain bin) and was about half as long as the CD version linked here.
	Cubanismo!: (The ! is in the name, like Yahoo!) Thing 2 was way into Mardi Gras Mambo when I put it on. Great beat, lots going on musically. The lyrics to "Mother In Law" aren't something you want them repeating ("She's the worst person that I know...") but there's nothing really bad in there that I could hear.
	Louis Armstrong: "What a Wonderful World" works, but so does "Hello, Dolly!" Again, some might not be thrilled with the lyrics to "Mack the Knife," but as long as they aren't repeated to a teacher you should be okay. The Greatest Hits I bought is sold out for some reason, but you can get the MP3 version for under 10 bucks.

Other music not-technically-for-them that friends' kids were into at a young age include LL Cool J (hearing a three year old sing "Aretha Franklin got a big ole butt - oh yeah!" is something everyone should experience at least once) and Los Lonely Boys. I'm sure some of you have more music that the whole family enjoyed despite the fact that it doesn't say "for the whole family to enjoy" on the label. If so, holla! I mean, leave a comment. (I'm too old to say "holla".)

images: babies in headphones, WashingtonPost.com; others, Amazon.com

Strollerderby : dirty sock funtime band