Top 5 Grown Up Songs I Sing to my Kids*

Who doesn't love a list?  No-body!


The other day as I was prepping Daffy for her bath, I noticed the song I was singing her might have been a little...ummm, inappropriate?


You see, I was waxing lyrical to that great classic Nelly song (remember him?  Baseball and Philly?) Hot in Here**.  Because, you know what, it WAS getting hot in the bathroom, and Daff WAS getting all of her clothes off.  So I kept singing it. 


But it got me thinking, what kind of songs am I singing to my kids?!  And should I put the kaibosh on it, or just change up the lyrics?  I thought about it for, oh, about 10 minutes, and came up with this list:

1. Nelly-Hot in Here

2.Bill Withers-Lovely Day

How can you not sing this song to your kids everyday?!?  When I look at you/then the world's alright with me/just one look from you/ and I know its going to be/ a lovely day!  It is the soundtrack in my head when I wake up every morning. I find the bass at the start is kind of perfect tossing-off-the-sheets music. Plus, its just an awesome song.  Try and argue against that fact.

3. The Beatles-All My Lovin'

Ok, this one is kind of a reach, because the song is fairly tame.  But I do sing it all the time, and I'm pretty sure this isn't a Beatles song that was specifically geared towards children (although the verdict is still out on Octopus' Garden, Yellow Submarine and countless others).  I also love the version of this in the movie "Across the Universe".  Le sigh.

4. Elton John-Bennie & The Jets/Rocketman/Your Song/ Daniel

I pretty much sing the Elton John songbook whenever I get a chance.  For instance, this morning when I thought I had tuned the radio to CBC, I had actually only made it to the Eazzzzy Listening station, and they were playing Daniel, so I sang along to Daff as she ate her breaky.  Bennie & The Jets is my go-to, tried and true Karaoke classic, and Your Song is just the sweetest.  Rocketman is fun too.  Dear Elton, thanks for the hits, love, us.

5. Young, Wild and Free-Wiz Khalifa and Snoop D. O double G.

This one is probably the most kid-inappropriate, am I right?  I used to crank this while going to my 6:30 AM yoga class, to try and wake myself up, otherwise, you know, it's zombie yoga.  Clearly, this is a song about a specific lifestyle.  Considering that, I changed the lyrics to suit my lifestyle:  "So what we work out?  So what we drink tea?  We're just having fun, and we don't care who sees!  Living as a young mom-my!".  I like to imagine that if Snoop dizzle ever heard my lyrics, he would officially retire this song, and never sing it again.  A big Wah-wahnnnnn!

So, in conclusion, I guess I'll keep it up with whatever song I feel the need to sing, and can exercise my brain by trying to re-write the lyrics to make them a little more, erm...kid friendly?  

*I also sing "Hazel" by Bob Dylan because that is the song that we named Hazel after.  And, funnily enough, I change those lyrics too, from "dirty blond hair" to "pretty brown hair".


**(as a side note, way back in the day when my bestie and I both worked at a bakery that became unbearably warm as the day went on, we would sing a poorly translated version of the song in French, which went a little like this: "Sa devient chaud ici, enlever tous tes vetements...sa devient si chaud, j'enleve tous mes vetements!"  This is essentially what 13 years of French Immersion education will get you).

Momcation: Wanderlust Whistler

Wheel Asana

It is SO official.  Since I've jumped back into a regular yoga practice, not only have I drunk the Kool-aid, I've been chugging it, pouring it into popsicle molds, and then chowing down on it later.  I am a yoga dweeb.  I get quite a high, and a real sense of accomplishment from little things, like getting my heels to the ground in downward dog, or getting into Dancer's Pose without losing my balance.  But my real jones is to get into wheel, and to push push PUSH.  It's like a time machine, because all of a sudden I'm 6 years old doing back bends in gymnastics, and it is AMAZING. 


So, when I discovered the Wanderlust Festival, I knew I'd have to go.  And although it likely won't be this year, my 1 year plan is to be at Wanderlust Whistler 2013, with my hubby and kids in tow.  And I will totally make friendship bracelets and give them to my mat neighbours in all the classes I take.  And I will not have a feather in my hair, but I will wear lots of sunscreen.

(http://www.wanderlustfestival.com/ )

Flick Pick: Planet Yoga

Believe it or not, even though I live on the unBELIEVABLY remote Baffin Island, I make it to a movie screening or two.


Last night, Daph and I attended a screening of the documentary "Planet Yoga".  The film maker travelled all over North America and India filming yogis (people who practice yoga) while illustrating how they came to fall in love with yoga.  It was a very sweet, positive and beautiful film, and the best part I think was that everyone practices yoga for different reasons, but they all indirectly linked back to a balance in one's life (at least that's what I got out of it).  There was the man who did hot yoga to train his body, the instructor who helped a gentleman with 'locked-in syndrome' to be more in touch with the body he was no longer able to control, and the woman who shuttled between Nunavut, India and Nova Scotia and spent much of her time leading yoga sessions for young offenders and prison inmates.  There was Dr. Bali, who was leading a group of breast cancer patients through yoga practice in an effort to help them increase their own healing abilities.  This same Dr. Bali was the yoga instructor for the Montreal Canadians in the '70's.

(official planet yoga trailer...that gentleman is known as " the white hindu")

It was all really very good, plus it was a treat to get out of the house, and Daph slept the entire time, except for right at the end, when they were telling the fable of the blind men and the elephant.  We know that one!  She's such a little trooper!  It definitely has me eager to start my 4-week yoga practice that my friend Karen is putting on in town.  I'm going to start limbering up now so I'm nice and stretchy come Monday night!

PS:  You want to know the sweetest scene in the entire movie?  There is a woman who teaches yoga in San Fran.  Clearly she's pretty open about people bringing their kids with them to class.  When they were doing their relaxation poses, corpse pose, etc. one mom had her little boy, maybe 6, on her tummy for a cuddle while she relaxed, and he was giving her nice kisses on her cheek.  It was just such a lovely moment, following a lovely yoga practice, laid-back enough that you could bring a 6 year old boy to class and no one would be bothered.  I loved that!