A Milestone in our Listening Pleasure

As a parent, it's always wonderful watching your kids grow and experience new things.  There is so much pleasure in sharing something you love with someone you love - especially for the first time.

I've loved introducing N. and O. to many favorite things of mine - ice cream, Harry Potter, the ocean.  Some loves you can share fairly early - jello, Bugs Bunny, cards (as long as it's Go Fish), The Little House books.




Other loves take a while to truly appreciate.  We spent many years watching Dora the Explorer with them - the only thing we all truly enjoyed was the Justice League. 





As they grow, you can gradually explore new and more complex things - N. and I have just finished watching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and are just starting Glee (lots of wonderful parent / growing person conversations to be had!).






Music-wise we always tried to avoid the kid-centric vapid music.  Their special playlists included the Beatles, Dusty Springfield, Monty Python and Aretha Franklin.  The only kid-centric stuff they had was the wonderful Philadelphia Chicken by the Boynton Crew (with performances by Meryl Streep, Patti Lupone, Scott Bakula).

But car trips have often been a challenge.  K. and I love to listen to NPR when we drive - so many wonderful stories and things to learn.  But the kids haven't been quite ready for that - luckily there are iPods!




But this past weekend on our road trip - we tried out a few podcasts and audiobooks.  They're not quite ready for David Sedaris, but This American Life was a huge hit!






It is joyous to be able to share this with them!  And this is just the beginning - soon to come - Terry Gross, Science Fridays, All Things Considered . . .