Music

I love music. I can listen to anything. Literally. Some days I like a little Tchaikovsky and others a little Eminem. I'm open to anything. I'd like to think that I have an ear for it as well. For example, I can hear a song one time, and know if it will be a hit or not. My kids are the same way. For the moment however, they all have different taste. That's ok. The only time it's not ok is when they all have their radios blasting something different. Makes me a tad crazy then.

I try to be the good mom and edit out songs that aren't appropriate. But, there was a time, when they had no idea what a swear word was, that I let them listen to anything. Now of course they have a very tainted vocabulary. The question becomes, how much do you shelter them? They already hear the words daily on the bus, slip from my mouth, correctly use them in a sentence, etc. Is music an art where expression of foul language is ok? I can't really answer that. Not when I'm prone to swearing like a trucker when I'm mad. Swearing is an art, right???

I was watching Ellen this week and she had on two of the most adorable girls that did a rendition of Nicki Minaj's Super Bass song. It was by far the most hysterical thing I've seen. So sweet and so talented. They sang the edited version of the song. Yet there were some viewers who felt that it was inappropriate for these two young girls to be singing it. My first thought was, "thank goodness they don't ride in my car!" Kid Rock is a staple at our house! But it got me thinking, what is on my kids iPods??? EVERYTHING!!! They have been listening to everything from Disney tunes to Katy Perry for years! And you know what? My kids don't swear because of the songs they hear. They swear because they know they aren't supposed to!

As adults we tell them that it's not ok. Yet in the next breath we call someone an a$$hole because they cut us off in traffic. I'm not condoning swearing. I'm just saying that we can't put the blame on an entire art form when we are guilty of saying stuff daily, or even occasionally, ourselves. My kids know that they've heard a "bad word", yet they just don't go spouting them off. Yes they come out every now and then. But again, punishing them for something we do just doesn't make sense. My job as a parent is to remind them that it's not appropriate and if I EVER hear them say foul words outside our home, they better run for the hills.

No they don't need Cee Lo Green's F#ck You, but I can let them listen to his Forget You. I don't think an occasional sh$t or a$$ is going to wreck my kids. Watching them dance around, singing at the top of their lungs, without a care in the world, is worth every bad word they hear or say. The words don't define them, the fact that they could give two sh*ts about looking and sounding like wounded animals is priceless. Music allows us to escape. I hope that my kids ALWAYS find comfort and fun in it. No matter what the lyrics say.