Teresa and I had been married, and childless, for quite a long time before adopting Elena. Before adopting Elena, we didn't really participate much in kid's activities. We anticipated them - buying toys and clothes, putting together her room, that sort of thing - but didn't really participate.
Now, of course, we're doing kid things. And one of the important things is music. This is important to Elena, because the Kotlas baby house used a lot of songs to teach and entertain the children, and Elena still likes singing. So we've gone through the classic kid's songs, mostly cadged from YouTube: she likes the A-B-C song, "If You're Happy and You Know It," and "The Wheels on the Bus," among others.
But kids music has limited appeal; I'd rather find "grown-up" songs that everyone likes. Yes, kid's music is pitched for children, and has easy-to-learn lyrics, but songs are songs, and songs for grown-ups can be appealing, too.
So we started introducing Elena to grown-up songs, from female singers to begin with (higher pitched, you know), and Elena quickly found her own favorites. Her first was Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", mainly because of the boots in this video. Since then, we've listened to a number of things. Elena has her own favorites, which she often requests, but there are a lot of things she's indifferent to.
Then we started branching out from female singers. Elena's current favorite song, one she absolutely loves, is the classic "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles. She's even got most of the lyrics down by now. And, since we're listening to the Beatles, she's starting to sing along with other songs by the band. I think it's kind of neat to see her listen to Beatles songs for the first time; she doesn't like them all, but there are some that grab her attention, and there's a little burst of pleasure seeing her "get" a song for the first time that's different from seeing her mastering the A-B-C song.
And, I think, I'm not the only one who feels that way. Here's Dave Grohl, of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters:
Lived a ma-a-an who sailed to sea
And he toooold us of his life
In the la-a-and of submarines....
Now, of course, we're doing kid things. And one of the important things is music. This is important to Elena, because the Kotlas baby house used a lot of songs to teach and entertain the children, and Elena still likes singing. So we've gone through the classic kid's songs, mostly cadged from YouTube: she likes the A-B-C song, "If You're Happy and You Know It," and "The Wheels on the Bus," among others.
But kids music has limited appeal; I'd rather find "grown-up" songs that everyone likes. Yes, kid's music is pitched for children, and has easy-to-learn lyrics, but songs are songs, and songs for grown-ups can be appealing, too.
So we started introducing Elena to grown-up songs, from female singers to begin with (higher pitched, you know), and Elena quickly found her own favorites. Her first was Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", mainly because of the boots in this video. Since then, we've listened to a number of things. Elena has her own favorites, which she often requests, but there are a lot of things she's indifferent to.
Then we started branching out from female singers. Elena's current favorite song, one she absolutely loves, is the classic "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles. She's even got most of the lyrics down by now. And, since we're listening to the Beatles, she's starting to sing along with other songs by the band. I think it's kind of neat to see her listen to Beatles songs for the first time; she doesn't like them all, but there are some that grab her attention, and there's a little burst of pleasure seeing her "get" a song for the first time that's different from seeing her mastering the A-B-C song.
And, I think, I'm not the only one who feels that way. Here's Dave Grohl, of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters:
Recently I showed my 6-year-old daughter, Violet, the brilliant Yellow Submarine movie. It was her introduction to The Beatles, and she instantly shared the same fascination I felt when I was her age discovering The Beatles for the first time. She wanted to know their names, which instruments they played, who sang what song, etc etc etc....In the tooooown where I was booooorn
Lived a ma-a-an who sailed to sea
And he toooold us of his life
In the la-a-and of submarines....
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