I am NOT weird!!

Okay.. maybe a little bit.  But my 4 year old singing in latin does NOT mean I need to be evaluated for mental health issues. 

We are a musical family.  I sing.  Sarah sings.  Heather is learning to sing.  Hunter howls, but shows promise that it'll be singing within a couple of years.  Steve ... puts up with us.

I spent most of my school years in competition choirs and my high school ALWAYS placed no matter what we were competing in.  After I graduated, I endured more than a decade of my mother and sister pestering me about auditioning for American Idol.  Trust me.  I'm not that good and no one with my confidence issues needs to have Simon Cowell shred what dignity is left after butchering some piece of musical history in front of a live audience that is waiting for you to make the "Look how horrible THIS one was!" reel.

Anyway, back to something relevant.... I was raised listening to what was then referred to as "Golden Oldies".  You know... the Moody Blues, The Association, Jay and the Americans, The Vogues, The Mamas and the Papas, etc...  Add to that the stuff I was taught to sing in school, my mother's love of  classical music, and my fondness of Disney movies and Andrew Lloyd Webber... well let's just say that the types of music that involve the lead singer screaming unintelligibly into the mic until his vocal cords shred while the drummer and guitarist compete to see who can make the amps and speakers explode first.... or the stuff that makes every car on the road throb and single-handedly keeps companies that produce migraine meds in business.... not my thing.

I like harmonies.  I like vocals you can understand.  I like being able to pick out who is singing which notes.  I like having a song end and not having to reach for an economy sized bottle of Tylenol.  Because of this, my children have a limited range of music they are exposed to.  Currently it's Disney soundtracks, The Mamas and the Papas (Heather's favorite songs include "Monday, Monday" while Sarah and Hunter prefer "California Dreamin'".), Casting Crowns, and Celtic Woman.

As a matter of fact, I'm listening to Celtic Woman now and it reminded me of something that happened last week while out grabbing a few groceries.  We were wandering through Sam's Club and Heather was trying to sing "Pie Jesu".  As is to be expected, she was mangling a few of the words and I was correcting her, then helping her find the pitch she was supposed to be on as opposed to whatever chord she'd found that was likely making glassware crack a couple of aisles over.  After several attempts at this, I had another lady ask me what language we were speaking to each other.  I explained that it was a latin song that my child wanted to learn and this woman looked at me like I was some kind of degenerate trying to ruin my daughter's future. 

Now anyone who knows me is keenly aware of how I react to having any complete stranger advise me on how to be a parent, particularly any complete stranger who gives the impression that parenthood is NOT a priority in their near future.  I'm quite certain that the hackles rising on the back of my neck were visible to people twenty feet away from us, however this young woman appeared oblivious to her danger.  To add to her precarious position, it turned out that we were standing in the movie and music section of the store.  How convenient.  *growl*  She glanced down for a moment, selected a CD, handed it to my child, and said "Here.  This is better."

It was a Justin Bieber album.

To my credit, I didn't maim her although I'm pretty sure she was thoroughly offended by my response.  I'd like to say I didn't raise my voice, but that'd be a lie.

I'm absolutely positive that my gales of laughter could be heard clearly across the entire mid atlantic region.