Ethan's Three Dog Night

Parenting isn't such a tough thing, no matter how much we parents might say it is. We use our best judgment to teach our kids in a way that will make them grow, learn, mature, or otherwise become the people they are going to become.

Actually, writing that out makes me realize that it is kind of difficult at times.

One such example: last night. Ethan has a tendency have bad dreams, scary encounters in his mind that he doesn't like to talk about. Probably from having to watch all those Hannah Montana episodes his sister makes him watch (that's enough to scare anyone)!

So last night, he calls me into his room to say he was feeling scared and couldn't get to sleep. Ethan has a tendency to use his stuffed animals, of which most are of the faux canine variety. He has a favorite one, which you can see in his arm in the adjacent picture, but he also has some big dogs. On nights like this, he tends to bulk up the number of stuffed animals, sometime to the point of almost burying himself in them. Last night was one of those evenings.

As I looked at him, after he had fallen asleep, I was reminded of the story of how Three Dog Night got their name. For those of you who are not familiar, the band has said that it came from one of their girlfriends (at the time), who shared a story read in a magazine. It basically goes like this: On cold nights, indigenous Australians would customarily sleep in a hole in the ground whilst embracing a dingo, a native species of wild dog. On colder nights they would sleep with two dogs and if a night was especially cold, it was a "three dog night." With the band having three lead singers, it seemed like a good name for them.

So...I sensed an opportunity to teach Ethan about pop music. This morning I related this tale to him, so that he would be intrigued enough to want to hear Three Dog Night's "Joy To The World," one of the greatest pop songs of all time. I related the story of how the band got their name, and that last night was like a three-dog-night for him. He seemed to like the comparison, actually understood what I was trying to get across, and when we came downstairs for breakfast, on went the youtube clip.

"Jeremiah was a bullfrog, was a good friend of mine...," and he was hooked. He's bopping his head back and forth and dancing in his seat in a way that only a six-year old boy would think was cool. He loved it.

He listened to the whole song, I got my pop culture education dose in for the day, and all was good.

Until Claire said very sternly and somewhat loudly..."I hate that. I never want to hear that AGAIN."

50% ain't bad, is it?

Next up: I just discovered that the woman who plays the mom on Claire's new favorite show (Sonny With A Chance) is Nancy McKeon, the actress who played Jo on The Facts of Life. I see an opportunity...

Peace And Love, But No Understanding

At the end of last evening, as I was getting Ethan ready for bed and with his new fascination with the Beatles, I decided to push my luck a bit. Ethan, made a comment about how much he wished for peace, and in the course of the ensuing conversation (about why he brought this up, what he was thinking about in particular when he said it, etc...), I mentioned that John Lennon was a big believer in peace as well.

I went on to talk about the song "Imagine," asking if he'd heard it at school or anywhere else. Receiving a blank stare, I asked if he wanted me to sing him a little bit of it. Despite the fact that he (like everyone else) knows I can't sing at all, he said he would.

After getting through the key part, he asked if he could see the video for it this morning on youTube (a common way for me to present music for the kids), and I of course jumped at the chance.

But things didn't go quite as planned. Just after breakfast, while Claire turned on her new favorite show...Disney Channel's "Sonny With A Chance" (more on that another day), Ethan retreated to the couch to play with his Nintendo DS...some game about dinosaurs. I asked him if he wanted to see the "Imagine" video. He did, and I turned it on.

And he kept playing his DS. "Ethan, it's on."

"I know, Dad. I can hear it, DAD." And he kept on playing.

"Ethan, you need to hear the words, to get the meaning. It's a beautiful song."

"Dad, I KNOW! But I've got to kill this dinosaur first. I've been clubbing him and hitting him, and I've almost got him dead."

Dinosaurs aren't people (although to Ethan they might as well be), but I think perhaps the message of "Imagine" was going to be lost on him, at least for today.

The Beginning

Yesterday was an event day for me. I'm an event planner who leads a non-profit organization, and I was away from the house for most of the day. Days like this are tough, not for me but for my wife and kids. Saturdays should be family-time, there's no arguement from any of us.

But as an event planner, I miss a lot of Saturdays during the year, and on these days my kids go pretty much bonkers when they see me. "DADDDDDDDDDDYYYYY," they scream in unison, jump all over me, and then tell me all about their day. It's a good life.

Yesterday, we met at Silver Diner in Merrifield after my event was over, and my guess is the screams could be heard in Bethesda. It's good to be loved. Or idolized. Or stalked as the case may be. I digress.

So, at Silver Diner they have these jukebox units at each table, and more than the food, the kids like to go to SD just for the music...music that all pre-dates not only their birth, but most of my life as well. On this evening, each had one quarter to spend (one song) each. Claire, the female half of our six-year old twins, chose Stevie Wonder (who she sometimes accidently refers to as Stevie Underwood, confusing him not with Steve Winwood but rather with Carrie Underwood...geez). Claire likes Stevie Wonder's music, but thinks it's cool that he is blind. And plays music. And his name (both "Wonder" and "Underwood" versions).

Then Ethan chose the Beatles, "I Want To Hold Your Hand." Ethan loves the Beatles, but only because he heard them incessantly on those Kidz Bop CD's, but last night was different. I try to pass on morsels of information about pop culture, so that he understands there's more to the world then what he sees on televison. After the song, he asked me when we got home if he could hear more Beatles music, but not with those kids singing, but the REAL Beatles.

I was so proud of him. I've already taught him to identify songs by the Beatles, U2, and even Coldplay simply by the musical style, but for him to request it...well that is breaking new ground. And I couldn't be happier.

Claire wanted no part of it. "If I have to listen to it then you have to play me "Party in the USA" (a very catchy song by Miley Cyrus)," she yelled. She wants no part of pop culture history. Ethan...I think he craves it, either to be like Dad or just because he senses it's importance to me. I sense he will be the repository for my pop culture obesession as he grows up. But Claire...I don't know if there's hope for her. If it's not on Disney Channel, she hates it.

Anyway, that's where this Blog begins. To Bridge the Pop Culture Gap between me and my kids. Enjoy, comment, share...I welcome your thoughts.