A peek into my innermost, darkest, deepest soul. (Hint: It gets Jiggy in there.)

I rarely get asked to participate in memes, and it is just as well since I really cannot handle the pressure. There’s a music one going around right now, and Janet and Soccer Dad nicely tagged me with it. (And yes, Janet, I know it was a long time ago!)

Here’s the problem I’ve been having: I love music so much that I could never in a million years pick just 7 songs. Of all the kinds of things that can make me laugh or cry, short of, you know, actual sad things happening, MUSIC is the number one “thing” that moves me.

Ever since the boys were infants I have avoided kid music. I’m no hipster parent, but that stuff makes my ears bleed. I know they get plenty of that music at school, and when they’re with me it is my only chance to imprint upon their innocent little ears the kind of music I like.

Remember this: brainwash them early!

And you know what? It works! Just the other day Mike heard a new song and said “Hey, I love these horns! Here come the drums! This is a great song, Mom!” I have never been more proud.

When we were trying for 5 years to have kids, the one image that kept me going was thinking about dancing in the kitchen with my kids. Just thinking about it made me cry, and now doing it makes me cry too. You know, happy cry. Yes, I am a TOTAL sap, but dancing with my kids gets right to the essence of all the things I love about them, myself, and being a mother.

So here’s 7 of a certain kind of song.

In that spirit, I’ll share with you a selection from the long playlist for the CDs I just made for the car (um, Minivan). I don’t listen to the radio when the kids are riding with me, so I always make tons of Mix Tapes. And I call them that because I am old.

Couple these songs with the fact that we like our music loud and every time we go around a corner I shout “BIG TURN!” and we all scream, and well… let’s just say that everyone knows when the Plain Family has gotten to school.

  1. C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train), Quad City DJ’s

    It’s a song about TRAINS people! What could be more appealing to a car full of boys? I suppose they could sing about trucks and airplanes too, but, um, I don’t think Michelle, Tamika and Tanya really want to “ride” a bus…

  2. Tip of My Tongue, The Tubes

    Awesome horns in this one. No youtubage, though! So sad! I saw The Tubes in about 1984 and it was a wild show. Think Voice Farm with slightly more clothing…

  3. Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It, Will Smith

    I love that Will Smith songs are fun AND I don’t have to worry about how to explain what they’re about! You should see the car seat dancing that goes on to this one.

  4. Play That Funky Music, Wild Cherry

    More horns and some drums too. Fun!

  5. Got to Be Real, Cheryl Lynn

    Gotta have some disco diva in your life.

  6. Funk #49, James Gang

    Here’s a funny live version, but I like the album recording better.

  7. Hips Don’t Lie, Shakira with Wyclef Jean

    I threw this in to prove that we do listen to music created in this century ;) I like this version from the Grammys a lot.

OK, now I think I’m supposed to tag some other folks. Hmmm, by now I’m sure lots of you have done this, but how about Karrie, Elizabeth, Jennifer, Thordora, and Shannon. If any of you have already done it I’m sorry! I’m too pathetic to go search your archives… I’m also tagging anyone else who wants to participate in this one. It’s fun, give it a try!


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8 responses to “A peek into my innermost, darkest, deepest soul. (Hint: It gets Jiggy in there.)”

  1. Soccer Dad Avatar

    Excellent selections! I’ll sheepishly admit I had never seen the Wild Cherry video before. Very cool. I really need to break my music out more.

  2. Jennifer Avatar

    Oooh, fun! It’ll be a while before I get this posted…I need to think!

    Thanks for the tag!

  3. thordora Avatar

    I got nailed with this one a while back…http://vomitcomit.wordpress.com/2007/03/22/one-last-one-cause-i-like-karrie/

    I rarely do meme’s, and I was slammed with three in one week. I was too lazy to you tube them (and the work firewall won’t let me near that site.)

  4. haze Avatar

    HA HA HA!! Glad to see someone else still get’s a kick out of listening to Will Smith – “UH! UH! UH! UH!” Classic!

    As a mom-to-be through adoption, one of my goals is to install my love of all music in my daughter. I’ve had that same longtime dream of dancing around the house with my kids. And I can’t get out of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s either. That was some darn good stuff!

    p.s. I just found your blog through blogher.

  5. bon Avatar

    okay, obviously my misspent youth didn’t involve enough getting down in the kitchen – though the image of what that projection meant to you brought tears to my eyes – so i’m damn glad you included all the youtube links. very fun, dude. bring on the horns!

  6. jen Avatar

    Hey, I’m with you in regards to not listening to kids music. My son is walking around the house singing ‘Stayin’ Alive’ although it took a long time to convince him it was not ‘Stayin’ in cars’.

  7. MammaLoves Avatar

    You offer such an amazing service with your Go Read It Today, that I never want to tag you because I assume you have too much other surfing to do. It’s not because you’re not loved!

    Great songs! I subscribe to the same approach to children’s music (in the car) though I do have to admit to a Laurie Birkner DVD we play at home. Even I love those catchy little songs.

    PS–Got to Be Real…one of my favorites!!!

  8. karrie Avatar

    We could totally road-trip together! I did this one already too:

    http://karriew.wordpress.com/2007/03/21/make-noise/

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