Category Archives: parenting

Children’s Songs Are Dark

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As my son approaches 8 months old, something strange has become clear to me: children’s songs are kind of dark.  Not like Marilyn Manson dark, but when you pay attention to the lyrics, they aren’t as cheery as they seem.  Let’s look at three of them.

Puff the Magic Dragon – Peter, Paul & Mary

This post has nothing to do with the theory that the song is about weed.  I don’t care about that right now.  I remember hearing this song as a kid when my parents would listen to the oldies station, and I remember the cartoon movie of “Puff the Magic Dragon”.  At this point I couldn’t tell you what it was about, but I remember watching it.

Puff the Magic Dragon

Puff the Magic Dragon

One night I was listening to Pandora and this song came on.  I got a little sentimental, thinking back to when I was a child and I was happy to give a “Thumbs Up” to make sure we got to hear it again in the future.  Of course we did and I paid attention to the lyrics.  I remembered that the song is about a boy and a dragon in a land called Hanali but then this hit me:

A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys
Painted wings and giant’s rings make way for other toys
One gray night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff, that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar

Whoa!  I didn’t remember that.  Of course being slightly sleep-deprived it hit me kind of hard, thinking that little boys don’t live forever.  The more I listened I realized that the song is about growing up and moving on from an imaginary friend to new things, but it still came across as much more morbid that I had remembered.

(On a side note, apparently the movie is on YouTube, at least for now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FyhTBvLu4w)

You Are My Sunshine

You can’t escape this one.  There are hundreds of versions floating around out there.  The particular version that came on was by the “Cooltime Kids,” which is basically an album of kid’s songs.  It’s very upbeat and cheery and clearly a sing-along song for kids.  Again, I had never really paid attention to the lyrics of the song until recently.  It was this verse that got me:

The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head, and I cried

Now I understand that the song was not originally written as a children’s song, and has taken on some new meaning over the years, but yikes!  Not exactly as uplifting as the music implied.  (I couldn’t find this version on youtube, but it is on Amazon music if you want to preview it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005X5KW3W/?tag=babyfund-20)

Alouette

I’ve got to be honest, this is why we are here.  The songs I listed above have some interesting lyrics for sure, but this last weekend we were happily playing with the baby and clapping along to “Alouette”.  My wife asked if I knew what it was about and I shrugged my shoulders and guessed that it had something to do with counting (A wild guess on my part, but it really was my best guess).  She did a quick Google search to see what she could find out, and it turns out this is what the song is about:

Alauda arvensis 2.jpg

Or more specifically, it’s about plucking that poor bird’s feathers.  Umm…yeah.  Here is the site we found with some info: http://www.whereiamnow.net/2012/03/what-do-lyrics-to-alouette-song-mean-in.html 

If you didn’t visit the link, I’ll give you the short version: it’s about plucking the feathers off of a Lark, and definitely not about learning to count.

 

Do you have any other kids songs with surprisingly dark lyrics?  Leave a comment below!

7 Things You Learn Becoming a First Time Dad

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Earlier this year I became a dad for the first time.  As we near the end of the year and the end of 7 months with the little one, I wanted to share a few thoughts I had.

  1. The life changes are not what you expect
    • There are the obvious things that you expect to change: sleep patterns will change, going out has to change, etc.  What caught me off guard were the simple changes like needing to run to the store.  Everything starts getting planned around the baby, even the little things.
  2. Yes he poops, but it’s not as bad as everyone made it out to be
    • Before the baby was born, every parent I knew had some horrific baby poop story.  I don’t know what it is about poop that everyone insists on talking about it, but so far I don’t have a horror story.  Sure, it’s stinky and sometimes it ends up on things that it shouldn’t (like my hand) but that’s why we have soap and water.
  3. You’ve got to have a sense of humor
    • Let’s stick with the bodily fluids, as long as we’re already on the topic.  Things will go awry with the baby, that’s just the way it is.  You have to have a sense of humor about everything.  Our little guy was pretty good about not trying to pee on us when we were changing his diaper, but about a week ago he took aim at my face.  I was able to dodge it and block it with my hand but he just kept going and going.  It’s impossible to have a situation like that without laughing!
  4. You get used to the smells pretty fast
    • There are all sorts of smells that go along with a baby.  There are the obvious ones like poo, but you’ll get used to even the stinkiest diaper.  There are definitely times where I’ve gagged a little but ultimately you get over it pretty fast.  But then there are things like diapers and wipes.  Even the clean ones have a distinct smell to them and those just become a part of the baby experience.
  5. You have to learn to live in the moment
    • I’ve spent plenty of time worrying about the future.  Will I be able to teach him good morals and decision-making?  Will he love the same things I do?  How do I keep him from getting hurt?  So much of that is way out in the future.  I’ve found that I have to live in the moment sometimes.  He’s smiling and laughing, I just need to keep that going.
  6. There isn’t really anything you can do to prepare
    • You can read books and blogs and get an idea of some of the things to expect.  But ultimately everything is going to be new.  Each kid is going to be different, and your experience will be different from everyone else.  And really, people have been doing this for thousands of years without the help of books and the internet.  You figure it out as you go.
  7. I wouldn’t trade it for anything
    • I was the youngest in my family and we never lived near any extended family.  Which means I never grew up around babies or little kids, so the idea of having my own was pretty scary and at times something I wasn’t sure I wanted.  As I grew older, my wife helped convince me that kids aren’t totally scary.  She was right.  Although there are scary moments, I would never trade this.  I would never be the kind to advocate that everyone has to have kids, it gives your life meaning, etc.  But for me, I couldn’t be happier.

What about you?  Are there any other first-timers with thoughts on how life changes?

Getting Used to the Idea of Becoming a Dad

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It has been just about a month since my wife and I found out she was pregnant.  Which means than in about 7 months I’m going to be a dad.

At this point it isn’t really real.  She’s not showing at all, and the initial ultrasound really doesn’t look like anything.  So at this point I know it’s real, but at the same time it doesn’t seem like it.  In a way that’s good, it gives us some time to process the change to our life (this will be our first child).

For the last several months we’ve talked about having a baby (well, really for a few years, but more so in the last 6 or 7 months).  I’ve always been nervous, and even a little hesitant about the idea.  A big part of it is just the change.  As I mentioned earlier, this is our first, so it’s clearly a big change in our lives.

I realize it’s selfish, but a big part of my hesitation to change is that I always thought it would take away from my “me time”.  But I’ve spent the last few months watching other people at work, watching friends who have kids, and I realized that it just changes what “me time” means.  And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Another of my hesitations is that there are certain times of the year I work a lot of hours.  My wife too.  Twelve or more hours in a day is not unheard of.  Again, I’ve watched my co-workers.  I’m not the only one working a lot, and they make it balance.  At some point it dawned on me that I’m not the only one who has gone through this (I know, that’s obvious, but it’s hard to wrap your head around simple things sometimes).

One of the strangest moments for me was the night we took the test and found out my wife was pregnant.  The test was positive, and somehow I just knew I was ready.  Despite some of my reservations, I wasn’t panicked or worried, I just knew it was right.  It’s a hard thing to describe if you haven’t been through it, but I imagine some of your readers know what I’m talking about even if it wasn’t about a kid (I’ve had similar feelings when we bought our house – it was just right).

So even though things aren’t quite real just yet, I think I’m as ready as I can be for now.  I’ve still got some adjustment time, and I know that the reality of having a baby will continue to grow but I’m finally ready for it!