Dance Like Nobody's Watching

"MOOOOMMM!!!" John screamed from the playroom.  UGH!  One of them cracked his or her head open.  I knew it!!!  They were wrestling again!  I blame my Irish heritage for my worst case scenario go-to thinking.  As I walked in the room, John was ecstatic.  "Mom, listen to this..."  He played a song from his favorite show, Odd Squad.  The song is called, "Dance Like Nobody's Watchin'"  As I listened, I thought this tune is pretty funky for a PBS joint.  Immediately, a dance party ensued...

As John was showing me his dance moves- a series of impressive jump kicks inspired by karate and simple 9 year old grooving- I remember that his love for music goes way back.

In 2006, my husband and I went to see the movie Walk the Line.   It is a biopic about the life and music of Johnny Cash.  I was about 7 months pregnant at the time and as the opening music commenced, my little man started kicking.  He did not stop.  Throughout the whole movie, this fetus was keeping time with Johnny Cash's brand of railroad track percussion.  I nudged my husband, Mark, and he marveled at how my belly was moving in time to the beat.

After John was born, Johnny Cash did us another solid by placating our fussy baby with his songs.  Whenever John was crying his eyes out, all we had to do was turn on "Get Rhythm" or "Folsom Prison Blues".  The red face and ardent squealing would be replaced by calm and comfort.  We were very grateful to Mr. Cash and his music for providing us with instant serenity.

Later on, John introduced us to The Wiggles. We had them in our house for a long time.  They were fun, but I was not disappointed when he progressed to more "adult" music after watching The School of Rock.  After being mesmerized by Jack Black's performance, John decided I needed to make him a "Mr. Schneebly mix" after Black's character.  I was excited because now my boy was listening to real music- Led Zeppelin, Van Halen.  The good stuff.  Whew.  No more "Fruit Salad" on repeat.

Our daughter, Colleen, has very different tastes.

Colleen fell in love with the movie, Mary Poppins,  at birth.  She was just as entranced with Julie Andrews singing "Feed the Birds" as I always was.  Still, to this day, she asks me to sing her that song at night after her bedtime stories.  I love that she is so connected with my musical tastes.  Colleen has also progressed through a number of genres in her 5 years on this earth, but her favorite songs of late seem to be feminist anthems; "Girl on Fire", "Let It Go" and "All About That Bass" are both on ad nauseam in this house.  Secretly, I couldn't be prouder.

As for song lyric recall, Colleen's aptitude is impressive.  She can learn a song after the first or second time after hearing it.  However, she alters the words.  For example, in "All About That Bass", Colleen will sing "all about that bass, 'bout that bass, no trouble" instead of the word "treble".  In fact, after listening to Duran Duran's "View to a Kill" song for the first time, she demanded I sing the lyric, "a fatal kiss is all we need" as "a big ol' kiss is all we need".  I still sing that song her way.  She cracks me up as I used to do the same thing when I was a kid.

I always loved music as a child.  When I was very young, I would hold concerts in the family room of our house.  I would sing along with an 8-track of Elvis Presley tunes.  "All Shook Up" was enthusiastically sung as "Marsha Poke".  Colleen does not take after anyone strange...

When I was a pre-teenager, Madonna was all the rage.  I would dress up in my slips and put on every Jelly bracelet and necklace I owned.  The show would go on only when my hair was higher than the Empire State thanks to Aqua-Net and my make-up of blue and purple eyeliner and shadow was set.  This show was only put on for an exclusive audience.  ME!  Just me. I would lock the door to my bedroom and crank up "Dress You Up" as loud as I could.  My parents would come to the door and say, "What are you doing?  Moving furniture?"  I would reply, "Nope!  Just dancing."

Dancing with myself....as if nobody was watching. Nobody better have been watching!!!!  Oooh, I shudder at the thought...