Don't children like other kinds of music?

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that a category for children's music exists. A device exists for warming baby wipes afterall. This device certainly occupies one end of the derriere care spectrum. At the other end we have the kaidankgu (open crotch pants) worn by toddlers in China, which, much to my dismay, are apparently on the way out. But this is supposed to be about music.

Right, children's music.

Its amazing how many adults have a strong affinity for children`s music they listened to when they were kids. Now, we have a couple of Raffi albums that would not get played except for the simple fact that my son loves the stuff. But will he love it when he grows up? I kind of hope not.

Not that children's music is all bad. Take some of Will`s Music, a friend of mine who happens to be a children`s musician. He has a song Let`s All Dance. I get that. Dancing with the Lad is definitely one of our favourite things to do. But I can`t say as if we dance to children`s music. Whether you love them or hate them, Vampire Weekend remains an enduring favourite of his. Am I the only one who finds it odd that, aside from children`s music, classical music seems to be the only other type of music recommended for development. Which may be true (I don`t really care), but I think that may say something about the extremes of modern society. Is there nothing in between?

Ahh, but of course there is. The good folks at Putomayo have produced world music that is bound to appeal to both sophisticated parents and their gifted children. Which hasn`t yet made it on to the list of stuff white people like, but I am sure is bound to. To be fair, I certainly have more room in my heart for Putomayo Kids than I do anything in the Rockabye Baby collection, which "tranforms timelesss rock songs into beautiful instrumental lullabies". The sound is eerily reminiscent of a low-fi karaoke machine playing muted melodies in a bar on a passenger ship in the Phillipines where I once had the pleasure of passing time. Yes, its that good.

Thus far I have noticed one enduring theme of the modern parenting world, there is something for everything. Still, I have to admit the idea of making children's music that appeals to parents for more than nostalgic reasons is clever. But don't we already have music like this? Music that appeals to children and adults?

Oliver Sacks' new book Musicophilia explores the idea of humans as a uniquely musical species. Apparently chimpanzee's can't dance. Who knew? According to Sacks, music occupies "more areas of our brain than language does". Without getting too spiritual about it, I think music -- in one form or another -- resonates on a deeper level than most things. And as long as your name isn't Navin Johnson, you are bound to have at least a bit of rhythm somewhere inside you. So maybe it doesn't matter what type of music you listen to with your children.

From where I sit in my rookie season of fatherhood, it seems that much of the rest of my life will be about finding things to share with my son. He doesn't have to like the things I do, but still, there are any number of things we can enjoy together. I'm just glad one of those things doesn't have to be children's music.