Family Playlist

This past Sunday as I drove to church I listened to an interesting segment on the Weekend Morning Edition  about how to pick the right songs for a wedding. This was probably the most frivolous segment of the show, and it impacted me the most. I am going to own the fact that finding the formula for the best wedding music is more intriguing to me than some of the world news right now. That's just where I'm at.

NPR's Stephen Thompson argued the need for quality wedding music. Amen. We have all been to weddings that could have been taken to the next level, could have lasted a little longer, could have had more impact on us if only the music flowed better. I am all for being taken on a musical journey during a wedding. I tend to enter wedding sites with the expectation of being swept away emotionally - the music has a huge part to play in that. I want things to start off slow and sentimental, work into some poignant reflection, and then lead me onto a vibrant dance floor that makes me mad at the newlyweds when they decide to close down the party by leaving. This seems like a simple wish for weddings. No pressure, my single friends.

Stephen's anatomy of what makes great wedding music was not the most intriguing part of his argument, though, albeit completely validating and interesting that NPR would like to explore such a thing. What has been playing through my head the past few days was Stephen's passion to have a family song. It was not even enough for him to have a family song, he wanted a specific song that his children would be so attached to that they would insist on having it in their weddings. He was adamant about passing down music, and embedding certain songs into his children's' lives.

Over the years John and I have fallen into some songs that are "our" songs and our family songs. A few songs from The Head and The Heart have become ingrained in our family, mainly because Grayson insists on listening to them on repeat. The repetition is worth it to hear Grayson belt out the lyrics as Lu tries to get a few words out.

I don't what to put pressure on my children to attach so much to certain songs that they will love them as much as I do. I believe that some family songs will take shape organically, but I think we may also start to be a little deliberate about incorporating repetition to songs that would be good candidates for family songs.

Here is the number one song for Stephen and his family. It's kind of a mantra.

Do you have any family songs? What would be on your family playlist?

Name That Baby!

Source

I understand that my recent posts have been simply reposting NPR content, but there have been a number of interesting features lately. Yesterday I ran across this  post about baby names. I have some anecdotal data of my own about popular baby names across socioeconomic groups. I worked with a number of women who looked to America's Next Top Model for their baby names. By the way, are the names on America's Next Top Model real? Or, does it really mean if you name your child something whild she is likely to make it in the world of reality television?

Coming up with the perfect name for a child can definitely be tricky. We chose names we felt gave enough wiggle room for our children to develop their own personality, not have their personality defined by their name. We wanted names that were known, but not super common. Both names we have chosen are starting to trend a little. I'm always fascinated how within one year a name can boom, especially if that name is not involved with some pop culture phenomenon (I'm speaking to you, all you Twilight babies!). I am not sure how common Grayson and Lucy are becoming, but on a regular basis I am told about other little children with the same name. It's not a big deal to me, just as long as there are not more than four or five Grayson's in his class. Interestingly, there were four Shannons in my kindergarten class. After elementary school I never had anyone in my class with the same name. Is my name for underachievers? Where did all the Shannons go?

I easily get sucked in to looking at name trends. The name mapper on the Baby Wizard is so fun! It turns out Grayson appears to be a name only folks in the deep South use, and Lucy spreads from the Midwest to West, with Utah taking first in favoring it. Trends!

What do you think about baby names? It's funny that we call it "baby names" when the term should be "person names".

Revisiting the Background to Snapshots

Have you heard of Dear Photograph? Today is the first time I have heard of this site, and I'm in love. I love simple snapshots so much more than intentional photography. I feel like there is more back story to snapshots. I love that this site creatively revisits photo locations and gives some commentary. Here is the story from NPR.

Enjoy!

Mother-Son Q&A

I first watched this NPR Story Corps animation a couple of years ago. I find myself revisiting this video every couple of months or so. I love this! I am excited for the day when I can have full conversations with Grayson.