Best-selling musician Laurie Berkner, who you’ve probably seen on Nick Jr. singing and playing guitar, is the featured guest in this episode. I ask her what makes a great children’s song. We’ll also talk about how becoming a mother influenced her songwriting and how she keeps the attention of an audience full of excited children for an entire show.
Links and Items Mentioned in this Episode:
ParentNormal Questions Answered in this Episode:
- When my toddler is in a public place and is dancing like nobody’s watching, am I wrong to be jealous of how much more liberated he is than me?
- At what point do I tell my 5 year old that he is just banging things and not playing music?
- I’ve been singing the same children’s songs for decades, but I still don’t know all of the words. When my kids want me to sing with them, what should I do?
- I want to teach my toddler music, but he doesn’t want to use any of the instruments we’ve bought him. Can you give me a list of 10 alternatives to instruments that my toddler could use to play music?
And in the ParentNormal News:
A new study released today finds that 9 out of 10 parents would rather be on London Bridge than riding on the bus described in the song ‘Wheels on the Bus.” Participants in the study believed they were much more likely to survive falling into the River Thames than spending two minutes on a bus going vroom, vroom, vroom all through the town with people bouncing up and down, wipers swishing, horn beeping and babies crying. When asked if there was anything that could change their mind, the most common response was – no, but somebody should still install seatbelts on that bus.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, New York, there is a Clash in the punk rock community following a decision by several punk rock club owners to promote children’s music at their clubs. The decision was made when the punk rock club owners, who are all dads now, were at a playdate and realized that none of them can tolerate the music coming from stuffed animals. And when one of them mentioned that they sounded just like their own dads talking about punk rock music, they came to the conclusion that nothing is more punk rock than music parents hate, which meant nothing is more punk rock than music coming from the bellies of stuffed animals.
“This is anarchy,” said one punk rock fan who hates the trend. “Exactly.” responded one of the club owners. And in an emotional moment between punk rock father and punk rock baby daughter, the daughter’s hair was shaped into a Mohawk using baby shampoo.
Meanwhile, in Budapest, Hungary, authorities are still searching for This Old Man after accusations that he has been playing knick knack on thumbs, shoes, knees, doors, hives, sticks and more. Police are unsure whether this is breaking any laws, but it is believed to be at a minimum – disturbing the peace. Police expect This Old Man will come rolling home soon, where they will be waiting to question him.
And finally, in tech news, a new jukebox is being developed for children. The jukebox will have 500 buttons for children to push, but developers say the primary selling point for kids is that every button plays the exact same song – because the only thing children love more than pushing buttons is listening to the exact same song again and again and again and again and again and again. No word yet on whether the jukebox will randomly play a song in the middle of the night.
About Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast
Since this episode was originally released, the show has evolved into Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast. It’s a show that’s for imperfect parents by imperfect parents. Hosted by humorist and imperfect parent of three Chris Cate, every episode breaks down a topic that causes parents to break down, such as putting kids to bed, potty training, the terrible twos, homework, clothing, discipline, cleaning up, cooking for kids, and so on….
By the end of each topic breakdown, parents will hopefully realize they aren’t alone in their struggles and that the craziness all parents go through is actually quite funny when it’s looked at in the right light. After all, the mission of the show is to help parents laugh when they want to cry.
Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.
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