You also shouldn’t be listening to anything too vulgar.  Now, I’m not saying you can’t hear swears or inappropriate language, but if in the radio/edited version you can barely tell what the person is trying to say because so many words are bleeped out . . .  E.g., the song “Drop the World” by Lil Wayne; I don’t think this song has ever been played on the radio because the lyrics would be so hard to bleep out.  Here is a line from the song : “The spot gets smaller and I get bigger, trying to get in where I fit in, no room for a n***a but soon for a n***a it be on mu’f****r cause all this bulls**t have made me strong, muf****r.”  Honestly, parents of the world, why the heck do you let your children listen to this stuff?  It is inappropriate for young children, and yes they all say that they aren’t young, but honestly they are! Even I, at 8th grade, shouldn’t be listening to something like this and I don’t, nor do I want to.  Now yeah, I may know all of those words, but it still doesn’t make right to listen to something like this.  If you ask me, you shouldn’t be able to listen to a song like that until you are out of the house.  I personally think there should be a law against creating songs that are so bad that, when edited for the radio, you can’t tell what the person is saying because of all the bleeped-out swears.

Now, I am only a teenager, so I really have no right telling parents how to parent their children, but, if you want some advice, don’t listen to stuff like that, it just creates angry people.  If anything you should have your children listen to “One Love” by Bob Marley –  it is a very happy song and tells people to get together and just be themselves.

We have an ace in the hole. Max’s grandfather was once upon a time a high school band teacher. That advantage, plus a fair amount of practice practice practice, earned Max a chance to play his trumpet in front of his class. That little tryout turned into an opportunity to play with the big kids.

The point of this article is not to brag on my son (well, not entirely). The point is that if we, as parents, can give our children a head start with a musical instrument or sports or academics, it will open doors that would otherwise be closed. It is all too tempting to leave the training of our children to the schools, the coaches, the instructor, whatever. But it all starts with us.

Encouraging our children and giving them a head start is not pushing them. It isn’t forcing them to fulfill some unfulfilled potential in our own lives. It is all about the opportunity and encouragement.

Now Max will get to try his skill with older, more experienced children. If he wants to keep up, he’ll have to man up and continue to practice practice practice. He’ll be in a position where he has to work just to keep up, but just keeping up will leave him miles ahead of the kids his own age. If he keeps at it, the day will come when we will be faced with the task of working at it just to find new outlets to keep him challenged.

Whether he stays with music in the long-term or not, a head start now gives him the opportunity to test himself against a whole new level of competition and expectation

All good things.

My son’s school offers a program known as Recorder Karate. Students can earn different colored belts, starting with yellow and working all the way to black belt, by learning and performing songs of increasing difficulty. It’s a great program. The recorder is very inexpensive, making the program accessible for every child. It’s small and portable enough to go back and forth to school every day, unlike say, a tuba. The belt concept provides incentive to practice at home. Students enjoy the recognition for moving up to the next level.

It’s all good.

Except the piercing, shrill sound of the recorder. When played well, it’s a barely tolerable facsimile of a flute. My son plays the yellow & white belt songs quite well. I’m able to keep my twitching to a minimum for the 20 seconds it takes to play through “Hot Cross Buns”.

The harder songs, well, he’s not quite there yet. He’ll get there. With practice. But now there are squeals that fall just below the threshold of being heard by dogs only (we should be so lucky). As a parent, I certainly can’t discourage him from practicing. I can’t say ‘no’ when he asks me (again) if I want to hear him play “Ode to Joy” (again). That is not the message I want to send (see paragraph #1 above). I’ve got to just suck it up and endure it. Unless maybe he could just come over to your house to practice until he gets it down.

• Go hiking.  Hiking in almost all places places is free, except for some parks.  The best part about hiking is that there’s such a wide range of hiking trails that you can find one suitable for everybody. Find a local park for a more laid back hike, or if you’re feeling like a challenge, try taking on a mountain.  You can pack a lunch and some waters in a backpack.  Also, bring along a first aid kit with bandages and antiseptic cream just in case.
• Go to the beach.  Who doesn’t love the beach? As far as I know, everyone I know goes to the beach at least one during the summer. Between the nice, warm sands, cool waters, and glorious sun, the beach is a fun place to be.  For those who enjoy a metallic skin tone, tanning is an option, while others can fish.
• Go to see a free movie, show, or event.  Check the newspapers, web, and local magazines for fun, free events happening in your area.  With the summer in full swing, there will be concerts, film festivals, and arts shows all around. Also, on the 4th of July, there will be plenty of fireworks shows.
• Explore a local city.  There is a lot more to do in a local city than you’d think. There are museums, parks, and similar attractions. Your city can be full of fun, so go explore it.

Fuel for drive to the mountain: $20. Packed lunch: $5. First-aid kit: $7. Having fun this summer: Priceless!

• Pack well: Getting there and finding out you lack an important item stinks, to be blunt.  Make sure you pack everything you need, but not too much either.  Only pack what you need and a little extra, not everything you own.
• Bring a good amount of spending money.  Pack more than enough, because running out can put you in  trouble.  Some kids ran out, so they had to borrow money for the meal on the way home.  By the way, the meals at the rest stops cost considerably more (about $9 for a Big Mac meal at a McDonalds).
• Bring a backpack.  When you are traveling around, you will need a way to carry items like a rain slicker, money, a camera, a hat, etc.  These items are important, like if you’re at the zoo and it pours…
• Bring snacks for the room. If it is allowed, bring some snacks and drinks to consume after-hours.  This is fun and will fill you up.  After a day of walking, the limited dinner may not be enough.
• Don’t pack anything inappropriate.  At my trip, the teachers searched the bags to see if we brought anything of the such, and harsh punishment would follow upon discovery.
• Don’t get in trouble.  Allow though it is a fun trip, the teacher will dole out punishment to keep the kiddies in line.  If you are exceptionally bad, they will fly you home. (Horror music plays)
• Finally, bring some books, an iPod, movies, or all three for the ride there and back.  It is long and boring, so get some amusement to keep you sane.

These trips are a ton of fun and safe, just plan before you go and have fun!

First off, I am going to give you the basic run down on American movie and TV rating systems.  First off, TV:

• TV-Y (All Children — This program is designed to be appropriate for all children)

• TV-Y7 (Directed to Older Children — This program is designed for children age 7 and above.)

• TV-G (General audiences)

• TV-PG (Parental guidance suggested)

• TV-14 (Recommended for people 14 or older)

• TV-MA (intended for mature audiences)

• G (General Audiences- All ages admitted)

• PG (Parental Guidance Suggested- Some material may not be suitable for children)

• PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned- Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13)

• R (Restricted- Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian)

• NC-17 (No One 17 and Under Admitted)

There is no official rating system to music, but radio stations generally will not play rude music.

These are the official rating systems, but they are not always accurate.  Also, as a parent you may be worried that watching an R-rated movie will have negative effects on your child, but he or she is exposed to plenty of this content anyway.  At school, we children learn many things that you may not even imagine us knowing.  At the same time, don’t just give your kid free reign.  Every child has a perfect age to be exposed to content of a mature theme. Some kids are not as mature as others, period.

Also, we have more access to it than you think.  At certain friends’ houses, I might watch TV after 10pm and can watch M-rated shows. The same is true for R- or even NC-17 rated movies online!  You can get music online also, but it generally it is less graphic.  Finally, if you are overprotective, the child may have a hard time in the real world.  It’s not like the world is G-rated!

Parents, I’m not asking you to have NC-17 movie night with you kids.  Just…don’t try to be too protective, it won’t help.

I spoke with Eric at Name Your Tune, and he informed that he would be able to make one cd for both boys.  Sending along the boys’ names and that it was from their Aunt Michele and Uncle Tom (their favorite aunt and uncle, of course), I waited for the cd to arrive, which took only a week or so.

Conveniently, the boys came to spend an afternoon with us shortly after the cd arrived.  Heading out for a while, we brought the cd to play in the car.  Our eleven year old daughter was with us, and let the boys know that they would be hearing their names in the song. When “Hello, How Are You?” began to play and Gavin’s name was said, Gavin was quite excited.  My two year old nephew had a huge smile, hearing his name in the song.

As this cd had both Tyler’s and Gavin’s names, every other song contained either boy’s name.  So, Tyler waited patiently, and sure enough, during the second song, “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, his name was in the song.  He, too, had a giant grin and was excited to be part of the audio entertainment.

With fourteen songs on the cd, there was plenty of music for us to enjoy while driving with the boys.  This was a great gift, as it not only provided amusements for the boys, it made them feel quite special.

For more information about Name Your Tune, click here.

(In the spirit of full disclosure, I did receive this cd free of charge.  However, having listened to the cd, I certainly would purchase a cd as a present.)

There are parents whose formula of raising super kids tend to work better. This formula involves letting their children find the path to their own dreams,  and when it is found help them follow it.  Every day these parents discover new things with their children, new talents, new learning, little things that when put together can become really great. These parents let their children discover their own strengths and help them work on it.

Every child is a super kid, but it’s up to parents to see where the strength of their children lie. If we start by letting our own dreams for our children overtake our ability to see what they really have in them, we could muffle the super kid in them forever. Remember that our dreams for our children may not be their dream. If we just learn how to see the little wonders that a child learns and does every day, we will see the super kid in every child, and we will be more fulfilled as parents.

There are a lot of things you shouldn’t do, so here is my list of don’ts:

1. 1. Don’t ever, ever make a big deal about saying good bye, love you or anything like that when your child gets out of the car. He will be very embarrassed and mad at you!  Especially middle school girls, they are so dramatic!
2. 2. Never fuss over your child, she wants to feel independent, dances are an independence thing.
3. 3. Don’t chaperone, that is really awkward for the teen or tween.  Also, a lot of schools don’t have parents chaperone.   At my school, teachers do all the chaperoning.
4. 4. Don’t worry about you child’s safety.  This is a middle school dance, not a heavy metal concert with a mosh pit.  Also, many schools have a police officer there.
5. 5. If you are worried about rude music, don’t.  Most schools play edited versions and are selective.  There will be some rude lyrics, but if you think you child doesn’t listen to any rude music, think again.

Here are some things you should do:

1. 1. You should help out with his or her outfit, especially if your teen or tween is a girl.  My sister was freaking out about her outfit a week before the dance!
2. 2. Give him food money, because going to a dance and not getting to eat or drink is uncool (trust me).
3. 3. Be nice about it, don’t tease or make fun of her, that’s just mean, and some kids are self-conscious about things like that.

Dance are a big deal for middle school kids, so let them have fun and don’t be controlling.  It’s all in good fun!

• Focus/Memorization – When children receive training in music, they usually learn to focus attention for long periods of time, they learn musical notation, which is like a complex new language, they learn patterns, and they often learn to memorize passages. All of those skills can be applied to the classroom and perhaps explains why studies have shown that children who have learned how to play a musical instrument perform better in reading, vocabulary, math, and spatial tests.
• Cooperation - Learning how to play music can help develop social skills. In learning music, you not only learn about harmony of notes, but also harmony of people. For example, duets must be played by two musicians who work together. Also, if you play music as a family, you can create a bond unlike any other.
• Self-Esteem/Emotion – Being able to play music is a talent that is easily shared, whether among musicians or not, and it is often admired. Additionally, music can be an outlet for emotions. When I have a rough day, I find that playing piano can be very relaxing, and I always leave the piano bench more focused and in a better mood.
• Entertainment – It’s better than TV, right?

It is beneficial to immerse a child in the world of music as early as possible, whether it be from a few trial music lessons, a music-related game, or listening to soundtracks together as a family. When I was little, my parents dragged me along to classical concerts and forced me to take piano lessons; those are things I thank them for now. Maybe I am a little biased because I now love music. But I say, at least introduce your child to music in his or her earliest years; what’s the worst it could do?