Music Lesson

*As mentioned previously, here's my little music story with Spencer that happened last week.

We've all heard the reports that music affects children. I definitely am a firm believer in that. I don't necessarily think that turning on classical music for an infant will turn them into a child prodigy, but I think it's important to have age appropriate music on for babies and children...and teenagers. :)

Having the tv off during the week, I really needed some background noise, so I kept our iTunes on more than usual while cleaning or showering or hanging around the house. Awhile ago I made a playlist of all of my favorite "radio" songs, and hadn't listened to it in quite some time, so I was excited to turn it on on Tuesday while cleaning. Now these are all songs you hear on the radio - mostly pop, old and new, a little country, and a few of my favorite soundtrack songs. No rap, no hard core metal, nothing wild. So I go to the computer and turn my playlist on. All of the sudden Spencer breaks into tears and exclaims,

"No music! No music!"

I had no idea what was going on. Maybe it was too loud for him, so I turned it down, but to no avail. I thought, "Maybe he just doesn't like this song." (I can't remember what it was.) I changed it to a more mellow song.

"No music, Mommy!!!!"

No luck...now things were starting to get more dramatic with sobbing. I tried four more songs including "Life is a Highway" which he normally loves to dance to because it's from "Cars." His sobs were starting to get hysterical by this point. I could not for the life of me figure out what was wrong. It's not like he'd never heard these songs before. He hears them on the radio in the car and occasionally at home.

I decided to try a little experiment. I found a Disney children's songs CD and turned it on to see what would happen. The second, "This Old Man" came on, the tears stopped. "All better Spencer?" I got a tear-streaked, red faced, nod this time. After a few seconds I quickly turned it back to my playlist where I got another scream,

"NO MUSIC MOMMY!"

Okay, okay. This time I tried a Christmas playlist. The tears stopped again. "Do you like Christmas music Spencer?" Another red-faced but calmer nod.

I decided not to go back to my music, but turned on a classical playlist this time. He brightened up a little and said between hiccups, "Wittow Einsein?" Ummm...sure! Mozart..."Little Einsteins"...same thing.

I was still baffled by his reaction to my "radio" songs. I wondered if maybe he was a little tired and sensitive to things he was hearing that particular day. I let the classical music be and then tried my experiment the next day with exactly the same results. I gave up trying to listen to my music. I admit it, I finally turned on our first Christmas CD of the year, but only because of Spencer. Trust me, I'm not quite ready for Christmas music yet. It's still too hot!

Funny story, but interesting results. My prognosis: Yes, children are DEFINITELY sensitive to the things they hear around them.