Four Going on Fourteen

Last night, Elsie came up to me to extol the virtues of the Beatles.

"I like Rubber Soul the best."  She says.  "My favorite songs are #4 about the Nowhere Man and #1, Drive My Car.  I also like the last song, but the words are pretty scary."  

She then proceeded to work out a few of the other song titles by sounding out some words from the back of the CD.

Hub and I shot each other a glance across the kitchen.  When did this happen?

We don't have a tv in our house (which isn't the display of self-restraint that it seems when you can get as much media as you want through your internet).  I try to keep screen time to a mimimum.  Instead, I let Elsie listen to music.  We started with children's music -- which she LOVED.  But after a few hundred rounds of Pizza Boogie and Animal Alphabet, I was ready to drive off a cliff.

Two things have helped:

1) Headphones

2) Expanding her tastes

She likes Nickel Creek, The Beatles, and Daft Punk.  When she listens, she listens intently, lying on the bed with her chin on her hands, learning all the words -- some, correctly; others, nonsensically.  When I try to correct some of her creative mondegreens, she shakes her head.  "You and I sing that song with different words, Mama."

Elsie has been moody and irritable lately.  Whether it's the frustrated boredom of a highly social kid having to fill her summer days without much structure or peer company, whether it's adjusting to the expanding family, or whether it's just a stage, she's much more prone to tantrums and pushing boundaries.  When she gets really exasperated, she slams the door to listen to music.

The same music to which her own grandparents listened as moody teenagers.

Four going on fourteen.