music to make you happy

I love music and I love all kinds of it.  I believe that my taste in music is super awesome and therefore it’s really important to me to pass on my excellent taste to my children.  Heaven forbid they are overly influenced by their dad who likes classic rock and techno.*

For the most part I try to keep “kiddie music” far away because I selfishly don’t want to listen to it in the car.  The one and only exception is Yo Gabba Gabba; some of the music is a little annoying but about half is fairly catchy and performed by artists I like.  And knowledge of the annoying ones comes in mighty handy at meal time.  For example:

“Hey Lydia, you need to eat your veggies.  They want to go to the party in your tummy.”

“They do?  Okay!” replies my sweet three-year-old as she chomps them down.

So what do we listen to in the minivan?  I frequently make mix cd’s of family friendly music.  And by family friendly I mean songs I like that are not sexually suggestive and have had any foul language edited out.  Mommyhood ain’t about to cramp my style.

So for fun I thought I’d share some of our favorite songs with you and see if you had any suggestions to leave in the combox.  I’m always on the look out for a new-to-me song so share the love!  But I’ll go first.  Here’s Lydia and my Top Ten favorite songs:

JJ Heller’s Magnificat.  This song got me through the NICU and so we listen to it a lot.  Lydia likes to listen to the “song about when Mary got pregnant with Jesus” which makes me quite happy.

Harry Belafonte’s Jump In the Line.  Don’t think about Beetlejuice, just think about how fun this song is.  You can dance around the living room to this one, something my toddlers love to do.  It also makes for great music in the car and kitchen.

Paul McCartney’s Dance Tonight.  We love this song because it’s happy, simple, and has a strong beat, something very helpful to my little girl who is still learning rhythm.  Sir Paul makes it wonderfully easy to bop around.

Matt Costa’s Mr. Pitiful.  I’m pretty sure the kids love this music video a little more than the song but it’s another one that makes dancing easy.  Are you seeing a theme?

Sara Groves’ Setting Up the Pins.  We love this song!  Lydia is able to sing along and she likes the connection the song makes to her life:  “We say a prayer and then say good night, too, Mommy!”  For anyone in the throes of doing the same thing over and over and over again this is a song you will appreciate!

Shakira’s Waka Waka.  We did not watch the World Cup but we did download this song.  Lydia and I are equally good at copying the dance moves in this song, which is to say we’re not good at all,  but it’s fun to try – just like it’s fun to sing along.

Kyle Andrews’ You Always Make Me Smile.  What kid (or adult) wouldn’t like a silly excuse to call out, “Oh wait!”?

Justin Bieber’s Baby.  Let the eye rolling begin (or continue) but you should hear just how cute it is when Lydia says, “When I was 13 I had my first love.”  It’s so adorable it moves on to awesome.

The Beatles’ Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da.  Okay I did not link to the Beatles here but only because this cover version is a blast.  If you watch nothing else – click on this link!  This song has to be a standard, right?  To me it just screams “Good Times!”

Grace Potter’s Something That I Want from the Tangled soundtrack.   I don’t care what you think of me – this song is fun!  Fun!

So there ya go – songs that are fun, happy, easy to dance to, and fun to sing along with.  Songs that make both my toddlers and me happy.  Songs that bring peace and fun to our car.  Maybe some of them will do the same for you.  Now please share one of your songs!

*I call it “heck-no.”

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Category: Entertainment, Family