The Era of Our Way

I made a new CD for Stuart. This one is called the DaddEE Mix since it contains songs that are important to Stuart and the kids -- either before or after they were born.

I was listening to it today and realized that our kids are being raised by parents from the '80s. The '80s... It doesn't seem that long ago, does it? Nearly all the pop songs I added were songs from that era: our era. When I was growing up, I remember hearing songs from my parents' era: the '50s. I loved those songs, both because of their musical merit and because they were songs my parents listened to as kids.

Now my kids are doing the same thing: listening to songs we listened to as kids.

As the song "Stand" played, I think our daughter -- now 8 -- knew the words to that song before she learned her ABCs. She could join in with her daddy on the song "End of the World" and mostly keep up with him on the chorus. And, at 4 years old, she knew some great dance moves for the song "Word Up."

Of course, I've always encouraged the traditional, too. I'm a purist in too many ways -- lots of Bach and Beethoven's V and all the normal nursery songs. But I'm suddenly enjoying sharing the music of our era.

Eras define who we are...and were. It's like sharing a page from a scrapbook with your kids....a small piece of the past. Our past.