Today is a lazy afternoon and I am sitting here at the computer blogging while music plays and my sons are dancing all around me. As they dance to “Blinded By The Light” by REO Speedwagon and “Hotel California” by The Eagles I am brought back to a time when I listened to music with my parents. Back then, I could not fully appreciate the gift that they were giving me by exposing me to all kinds of music and ignoring musical generational boundaries. They played music wherever we went and no matter what we were doing. You could hear it in the car on the way to Grandma’s house and blasting over the speakers in the livingroom as we did our chores on Sunday morning.
It was certainly an eclectic mix as both of my parents have very different tastes in music. My father would play Led Zeppelin, Meatloaf, and any other kind of rock and my mother would play Motown, Michael Jackson, The Stylistics and many more…We danced, laughed, talked, and lived as all this music was playing around us. As a result, I know the words to a lot of songs that most people my age know nothing about and I am familiar with singers that are foreign to those within my generation. This love and knowledge has carried me throughout some of the best and worst moments of my life. No matter what song plays on the radio, chances are I can connect it to something that I have experienced or that has happened to me.
Maybe I don’t give my parents credit sometimes for the things they did well. It is probably so much easier to remember what they did wrong because these are the experiences that are burned into our memory. Now that I am a parent, I find myself being a little more forgiving and understanding towards them because I realize that parenting is no easy task. I also find myself remembering the good times and wanting to share these moments with my own children. That is why I try to incorporate music into all of our activities and outings. I want my sons to always have music in their lives just as I always have.
Hopefully, they will grow up and remember the music too. Maybe they will be sitting in their car when a song comes on and remember dancing with their Mommy on Sunday mornings. Perhaps the music will remind them of the love, the laughter, the joy, and the affection. Also, I hope they realize how hard their father and I tried to create a loving and stable home for them full of music. They might decide not to be so hard on us and critical as I have decided to stop being with my own parents as I write this post. In the end, maybe we will all just remember the music…
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Hello Tough Cookie Mommy,
Sitting at my computer and reading your post went back to those days when my sons were small. There were no computers yet. Now it seems the World grew smaller. Working full time and raising family it is a though job. I have done that! There was no one to help me either. My sons are wonderful grown-ups now, and I have no regrets if I did not give them all. I did not have enough time for all I shall do for my sons, but I loved them dearly. Kids will remember your love forever, so if you do not give them something they want, like a special toy or a brand T – shirt, do not feel bad that you are not a good mum. They will always remember the time you had for them and the support and encouragement you have given.
With my warmest wishes,
Zuzanna
wow!!
music bring back all sort of memories..it reanimates those old feelings without warning.
Hotel California was one of my fave!
Awesome!
I listened to a lot of Led Zeppelin as they were my father’s vinyls – it was a way I connected with him.
As for Meatloaf, I totally had to laugh there; my adopted dad LOVED him an thought he was being all cool and edgy when he’s crank it up in the car – all I could think was L-A-M-E; I was 16. HAHAHA.