I shared this with a few folks already via e-mail but I thought it deserved a wider audience. (Also, for those of you who have already seen it, I'm adding a bit more at the end. OK, a lot more.)
Two days ago, Rhys was in the bathroom, as he often is, accompanying himself with song.
I transcribed as he sang:
"Hi! My name is--what?--
My name is--what?--
Shikka-shikka-slim-shady
Chicken-chicken-chicken-shady--what?--
My name is--what?--
My name is shakey-shakey-shakey-bla-bla
So yesterday as we tooled around running a variety of errands, I asked Rhys if he would like to hear Eminem. (Sad was the day when Rhys grew up enough to stop calling him "M&Ms.") Of course he would, Mama!
We cued up "My Name Is" first. Rhys listened intently to the first line, "Hey kids! Do you like violence?" and asked me "Mama, isn't violence bad?"
Ah, the dilemma of the non-censorious parent. We have a policy of providing 100%-honest answers to any questions our kids ask, and we listen to pretty much exactly the same music when they're around as we do when they're not (Peaches being a notable exception). So they probably hear all kinds of wildly inappropriate things that are probably scarring their impressionable brains in ways we can't even imagine. (But at least their brains aren't being scarred by Kids Bop. That is where we draw the line.)
Let's see. How could I make a teaching moment out of this? Ah--inspiration! I put the song back to the beginning and asked Rhys to listen hard to the first few lines. (If you're not familiar with the Eminem genre, they go like this: "Hey kids, do you like violence? (Yeah! Yeah!)/Wanna see me stick nine inch nails through each one of my eyelids? (Uh-huh!)/ Wanna copy me and do exactly like I did? (Yeah!)/ Try 'cid and get fucked up worse than my life is? (Huh?)")
"What do you think he's telling the kids to do, Rhys?" I asked.
"Ummm... I don't know." (Stock Rhys response.)
"Is he telling them they should do bad stuff and watch him do bad things?"
"I think so." (Moment of thought.) "But maybe he doesn't really want them to do that, because the kids in that song sound stupid."
Cue a conversation about peer pressure, sarcasm, and the urge to perform. I introduced the phrase "cautionary tale." Rhys offered, as an example of a sarcastic statement, "Look, Mama, a moth... your faaaavorite insect." (Mama has a legendary horror of moths. Not butterflies, just moths.)
So having turned "My Name Is" into some semblance of educational material, we went on to "Lose Yourself" and the idea of having to do something you're absolutely terrified of doing in order to succeed. (Rhys: "I can imagine getting so scared I would throw up. I hate throwing up." N.B.: I don't remember Rhys ever actually throwing up, not since he was an urpy three-month-old.)
*The correct response is either "Slim Shady, you a basehead" or "Nothing, you idiots, Dr. Dre's dead! He's locked in my basement!" Neither of which I have figured out how to turn into a Teaching Moment.
My name is shakey-shakey-shakey-bla-bla
So yesterday as we tooled around running a variety of errands, I asked Rhys if he would like to hear Eminem. (Sad was the day when Rhys grew up enough to stop calling him "M&Ms.") Of course he would, Mama!
We cued up "My Name Is" first. Rhys listened intently to the first line, "Hey kids! Do you like violence?" and asked me "Mama, isn't violence bad?"
Ah, the dilemma of the non-censorious parent. We have a policy of providing 100%-honest answers to any questions our kids ask, and we listen to pretty much exactly the same music when they're around as we do when they're not (Peaches being a notable exception). So they probably hear all kinds of wildly inappropriate things that are probably scarring their impressionable brains in ways we can't even imagine. (But at least their brains aren't being scarred by Kids Bop. That is where we draw the line.)
Let's see. How could I make a teaching moment out of this? Ah--inspiration! I put the song back to the beginning and asked Rhys to listen hard to the first few lines. (If you're not familiar with the Eminem genre, they go like this: "Hey kids, do you like violence? (Yeah! Yeah!)/Wanna see me stick nine inch nails through each one of my eyelids? (Uh-huh!)/ Wanna copy me and do exactly like I did? (Yeah!)/ Try 'cid and get fucked up worse than my life is? (Huh?)")
"What do you think he's telling the kids to do, Rhys?" I asked.
"Ummm... I don't know." (Stock Rhys response.)
"Is he telling them they should do bad stuff and watch him do bad things?"
"I think so." (Moment of thought.) "But maybe he doesn't really want them to do that, because the kids in that song sound stupid."
Cue a conversation about peer pressure, sarcasm, and the urge to perform. I introduced the phrase "cautionary tale." Rhys offered, as an example of a sarcastic statement, "Look, Mama, a moth... your faaaavorite insect." (Mama has a legendary horror of moths. Not butterflies, just moths.)
So having turned "My Name Is" into some semblance of educational material, we went on to "Lose Yourself" and the idea of having to do something you're absolutely terrified of doing in order to succeed. (Rhys: "I can imagine getting so scared I would throw up. I hate throwing up." N.B.: I don't remember Rhys ever actually throwing up, not since he was an urpy three-month-old.)
*The correct response is either "Slim Shady, you a basehead" or "Nothing, you idiots, Dr. Dre's dead! He's locked in my basement!" Neither of which I have figured out how to turn into a Teaching Moment.
Holy shit, that's one of the funniest things I've heard in some time, Molly! I almost snorted... I just pulled my 12-year-old to homeschool him for the rest of the semester... can I borrow your lesson plans?!?!?
Posted by: Lori V. | March 07, 2007 at 11:01 AM
I've wondered about some of our music. A lot of that folk music is pretty questionable, you know. Lots of drinking songs and tumbling in the orchard. Have I mentioned this before? Makes it difficult when you're trying to think of something appropriate for the church talent show.
(Hey, stop by my blog and see a picture of Doug's water bong. ;)
Posted by: Helena | March 07, 2007 at 03:30 PM
Haha, kids are all "'scuse me while I kiss this guy"...
I like your blog! "Truck-drivin' Neighbours Downstairs" keeps playing in my head too. I guess it's inevitable if you're a white kid of the 70s.
Posted by: Martin Rundkvist | March 08, 2007 at 09:24 AM
Ah lord, this is going to be us one day with Caden. I am bookmarking this for future reference. Thank you, thank you oh non-censorous parent for your sage experiences.
Cooincidentally, one of Caden's favorite things to watch right now?
Any "Itchy and Scratchy" moment from The Simpsons. He laughs and laughs and then is like, " ohhhhhhh..." when Scratchy gets dismembered......heh heh.....
Posted by: Summer | March 08, 2007 at 07:22 PM