A parent has many proud moments as they watch their child grow up. Their first words, their first steps, their first day at school.<\/p>\n
I recently watched as another milestone in Bridget’s life passed by \u2013 the moment I realized she might have good taste in music.<\/p>\n
This moment has actually been building for a few years. We put up with the typical Sesame Street music, but Bridget did enjoy some artists that didn’t have annoying parents as their first goal.<\/p>\n
I know some people don’t like The Wiggles, but I loved them. Sure, they did some basic annoying nursery rhyme stuff, but they had a background in rock music and had some songs that I could really get into. We went down to D.C. To see them in concert, and I had a blast.<\/p>\n
Bridget also loved Laurie Berkner, who also transitioned from rock to children’s music and left a little something in there for the grownups. We didn’t mind when that CD got a workout in the car.<\/p>\n
The next big step came when Maria started listening to The Beatles on long car drives instead of the kid’s music two or three years ago. Within a few trips, Bridget had her favorite songs and sang along with a few tunes.<\/p>\n
Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n
She started to notice the songs playing in my car more and more after that. I made a mental note so that I could make her a CD worth listening to. I was really flattered when she asked me to make her a CD of the band Tullycraft, a Seattle band a friend of mine got me hooked on last year. Their upbeat songs were perfect for Bridget.<\/p>\n
So before we went to the beach last year, I gave Bridget a little present \u2013 her own MP3 player. I didn’t go out and spend a couple hundred bucks on an iPod. I won’t even do that for myself.<\/p>\n
Instead, I gave her my older player, when I upgraded to something with more capacity. I think she can hold about 15 or 20 songs on her new toy, which she calls a CD player despite my efforts to try and educate her on the difference between CDs and MP3s.<\/p>\n
Before we packed up for the trip, she and I sat down at the computer and worked on her song list. She wanted a few Tullycraft songs, a couple from her KidzBop CDs and a few rock songs that she loves to listen to.<\/p>\n
That trip started something new that has happened on every car trip since July. We settle in. I turn on my music, Maria opens her magazine and Bridget settles in the back seat with her headphones on.<\/p>\n
We drive along for a little while without too much conversation and the music playing pretty low. Then, the sound comes from the back seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince U Been Gone. I can breathe for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remember my siblings, who had a huge hand in shaping my musical tastes, yelling at me for singing too loud when I had my headphones on back when the Walkman was first released. Maria remembers those days too.<\/p>\n
So we just look each other and laugh. At least she’s not singing an Elmo song. I don’t know if I could take that anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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