The boys love music, and seem to come by it naturally based on talent for and love of music on Jimmy's side of the family. The boys CD player is in constant use. If they had their choice - so would Mommy's Ipod. In their perfect world, both would be playing simultaneously in different rooms and they would just hop back and forth from one room to the next.
Here's the scooop - based on my non-expert clinical and motherly opinion of course. Music feeds their need for routine/familiarity. They can memorize it, recognize it, and repeat it which can be very comforting (especially for Alex). Music is something they can hyperfocus on because it is complex in nature, but can interestingly feed their need for constant motion (through dancing, jumping, etc). Music tolerates their lacking attention span (they can skip from one CD or song to the next without finishing one completely). It's not a toy they can break. It's not a game that must be finished. It's not a building that the other is likely to knock over. It's not an imaginary play scheme in which they will lose interest. Music meets them wherever their mood (happy, sad, agitated, wiggly, giggly) and takes them to a calm place.
So - for you music lovers out there - this is no surprise. To their very non-music oriented mother, it's all a bit fascinating.
And then - even with their love of music - we see flashes of mommy. The athletic, super competitive, opinionated tendencies so rudely invade their peaceful happy music time. What happens when Little Boy #1 (guess who) wants to play the music on shuffle and Little Boy #2 (guess who) insists that it be played in order? Hint: Guessing which is which may be easy at first glance, but think hard before you answer. What intrigues one about the shuffle?
Anyhow - when love of shuffle meets love of repeat...it's an all out brawl. Wrestlemania Wooden Boy style. Tickets on sale daily...same fight...same cause...same sides of the ring. Come see the tackles, shirt grabbing, hair pulling, hip checking, yelling, screeching fun. Or better yet, post with a solution that does not require this non-music lover to tolerate childrens CDs in multiple rooms of the house. Ear buds or head phones not an option (for neither me nor the boys). Alcohol optional (for me). Oh yeah - and they are four years old. Uncle Jack???? Good luck.
3 comments:
That sounds like a battle royale! It is amazing that they latch on to music like that. Wonderful! Too bad it turns contentious.
When we fight about music, it's usually because one of the girls has taken ownership of a song and decides that her sister isn't allowed to sing it. Tears ensue. Those crazy girls -- when will they learn that it's even more fun to sing TOGETHER?
Sounds like the Wright girls need to learn some duets! Alex and Tanner love singing the 'Hello World' CD back and forth together. It's some sort of folksy childrens singer who sings a line, then the kids sing back. I'd tell you the name of the singer/songwriter, but that would require me to know where the CD jacket is.
Now I know why I love music.
Thanks, Amy. I think you're right on.
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