When you're a parent, you hear numerous children's songs on repeat. Constantly. They all get irritating. Even the good stuff, like Yo Gabba Gabba! and the They Might Be Giants kids CDs, get annoyingly repetitive after a while.
Starting before age 2, Maya often wanted to hear the same song over and over again. Many times, she'd insist we start a song over again only 15 or 20 seconds into it. As she got older and started talking — and singing — more, we realized she was committing every verse to memory. She needed to know every word and sing along.
So, although we indulged this request, hearing one song everyday on repeat for the 30-40 minute commute into to the work, then again for the drive home, was insufferable. So we made a deal where Chris and I listen to the radio (almost exclusively WXRT) for at least half the commute, then Maya gets to pick her song(s).
Over the years, she has started to like some of the songs on the radio, and — being a child of the modern era with no concept of a live, non-DVR'd broadcast — would ask us to play them again or restart them halfway through.
That interest in our music, plus the frustrating task of navigating between her two favorite kids songs of the moment, which were often located on different CDs, led me to start making her mixes. This also gave me the opportunity to expose her to different music, even though some of my choices may be questionable for her age.
Many she deemed "too long" or "boring," but some stuck. And I now have a 5 year old who knows all the words to "Brass Monkey" and "Blister in the Sun."
Starting with her 4th birthday, I started making a mix of her favorite songs as a goodie bag giveaway for her friends. Full disclosure: I straight up stole this idea from my cousin who does the same thing for her daughter.
In addition, I also started making Maya a monthly mix of just 10 songs. Each is a mix of stuff I know she'll love (Disney, mostly) and stuff I want her to like. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. A few themes have emerged: She does NOT like The Beatles (sniff), but one Paul McCartney song has won her over ("New"), simply because it was on the soundtrack for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. Same goes for any song even remotely associated with the Shrek/Puss in Boots franchise. Hence, Maya now likes Rodrigo y Gabriela.
I'll write more about the monthly mixes in the future, but for now, here are her last two birthday mixes:
Maya's Favorite Songs - 2013 (age 4) edition
1. Pool Party - Aquabats (Yo Gabba Gabba! Music is Awesome! Vol. 1)
2. When Will My Life Begin - Mandy Moore (Tangled soundtrack)
3. These Boots Are Made For Walkin' - Nancy Sinatra
4. Wombo Lombo - Angelique Kidjo
5. Sing After Me - Madeline Kahn & Grover
6. I Can Add - They Might Be Giants
7. I Love Bugs - Yo Gabba Gabba!
8. What I Like About You - ROMANTICS
9. Pirate Girls Nine - They Might Be Giants
10. Sisters and Brothers - Free to Be...You And Me
11. Hold Still - Yo Gabba Gabba!
12. Hot Dog! - They Might Be Giants
13. Baby Beluga - Raffi
14. Baa Baa Blacksheep - Patti Dallas and Alura Baron
15. Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67 - Sergei Prokofiev - Leonard Bernstein/New York Philharmonic
Maya's Favorite Songs - 2014 (age 5) edition
2. Hey Ya! - Outkast
3. Americano - Lady Gaga
4. La Seine and I - Vanessa Paradis & Sean Lennon (A Monster in Paris soundtrack)
5. Let It Go - Idina Menzel (Frozen soundtrack)
6. Blond Hair And Blue Eyes - moe.
7. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - Paul Simon
8. I Love Rock N' Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
9. Diablo Rojo - Rodrigo y Gabriela
10. Papa Paris - Vanessa Paradis (A Monster in Paris soundtrack)
11. For the First Time in Forever - Kristin Bell & Idina Menzel (Frozen soundtrack)
12. Brass Monkey - Beastie Boys
13. Sweet Adeline - Elliott Smith
14. Poor Unfortunate Souls - Pat Carroll (A Little Mermaid soundtrack)
15. Get Off Of My Cloud - The Rolling Stone
16. Everything is AWESOME!!! - Tegan and Sara (The Lego Movie soundtrack)
17. Tick Tick Boom - The Hives
18. A Monster in Paris - Sean Lennon (A Monster in Paris soundtrack)
19. Lovely, Love My Family - The Roots (Yo Gabba Gabba! Music is Awesome! Vol. 1)
20. Ladies First - Marlo Thomas (Free To Be...You And Me soundtrack)
21. Power Puff Girls End Title - The Hit Crew (The Power Puff Girls Theme Song)
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