Secret Of Survival - Music

Recent text message I sent to my wife:
"So I'm pretty sure that I have a mental disorder that I just made up."

When she asked about it, rightly puzzled by the statement, I told her that I that I think I suffer from a music deficiency. Not like an aversion to, or inability for music, but that my body lacks something naturally to help it function that I get from listening to music. Kind of like how Seasonal Affect Disorder (or SAD, which is the best and most appropriate acronym ever) involves feeling off without exposure to sunlight, I feel a bit off without the presence of music. I like to call it Musical Affect Disorder (or MAD).

Anyway, when you add in the stresses and patience-trying extremes that taking care of the kids sometimes results in, music is one of the few things that I can always count on to perk me deal a little bit better. So yeah, I listen to music a lot with the kids. And I don't mean Raffi or anything like that. I'm a guitar guy, so it's almost always guitar-heavy music. Or heavy guitar music. Don't get me wrong, the kids and I will sometimes listen to kid's music (but the good stuff like They Might Be Giants), and I don't throw on anything too heavy with the kids (my definition for too heavy is, however, significantly heavier than what most people would define as such), but yeah, we like to rock out. When Ellie was a baby, sometimes the only thing that would soothe her when she was upset was throwing on my In Flames concert DVD. She loved it. So did I. It was pretty win-win. She wasn't too into Baby Einstein or anything else that I had heard other parents swear by, but she loved herself some loud, roaring, intricately melodic guitars.

So yeah, loud music can be a good thing.

Bonus good thing: if you can get your kids to sing, dance, or play air guitar along with you.