The other day I was driving in the car with my two kids. Usually I play the music from my iphone so that I can somewhat control the content they are hearing. This particular time, I just had the radio playing and wasn’t really listening. I’ve always thought that the FCC controls content more rigorously than they should, so I really wasn’t thinking about the lyrics they were hearing and assumed the content would be family appropriate.
Then we left the car and my son was repeating the lines to a song I’m sure all of you know. “I’m up all night to get wucky….. I’m up all night to get wucky…”. Yes, he was singing Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”, oblivious to the actual meaning of the words he gleefully recited. It’s an insanely catchy song and easy to sing along to. I’m sure in his mind, being up all night to “get lucky” means that he’ll watch “Jake And The Neverland Pirates” while eating ice cream with his friends Miles and his little cousins. That WOULD be lucky! However, it served as a stark reminder to me that my two kids are paying attention to everything and that I really need to be more careful about what I listen to and say around them. Sorry kids, no more Ol’ Dirty Bastard on the way to school.
This reminded me of a time when I was 11 and a lovely song by Paul Lekakis was at the top of the charts and in heavy rotation on the radio. You might be unfamiliar with his name, but I assure you that if you were alive in the summer of 87, the legacy of his music remains with you. Ever the Rembrandt of innuendo, he composed the masterpiece of suggestive subtlety “Boom Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back To My Room)”. I was at a family friend’s house and the youngest daughter who was about 6-7 was singing for all the world to hear “Boom Boom Boom, Let’s Go Back To My Room, So We Can Do It All Night, And You Can Make Me Feel Right!!” Well, her mom heard her singing that after a few minutes and boom boom boom she was sent to her room for the rest of the day; convicted of a crime she was too young to understand. I guess ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law. Even if you’re 6.
Of course I didn’t say anything to Joseph while he was singing. I didn’t want to draw extra attention to it and ignoring it will hopefully make it go away. But now I know I’ll need to be more careful. I can’t have my usual phone conversations with my old lifeguard buddies if I’m in front of my kids, or I’ll have to alter my words drastically on the fly. “Oh man, I remember that drunk guy you rescued, what a complete cocksu……a doodle doo, right??”. At least I’ll be able to keep close tabs on what’s being said around them, but I guess I’ll have to really pay attention when it comes to all sorts of media around them. Everyone knew a kid in their class who was first to start spewing out the bad words and suggesting inappropriate ideas. I don’t want one of my kids to be “that kid”. They can be 4th or 5th, but when it comes to that, I don’t want them to be the trailblazers.