I have a confession to make. The first time I really felt like a mother was not the first time I held my beautiful 8 lb. 10 oz. son in my arms…it was when I found myself singing all the words to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Ok, ok, I’m exaggerating – but just a little bit.
Before kids, I didn’t even know we had the Disney Channel as part of our cable package. I was immune to whatever adorably cute and brightly lit movie was coming out in the theater. The only child’s song I knew was Barney’s “I love you” which, I think, is pretty much the equivalent of being a dinosaur (pun-intended) in the toddler world.
So one day when I found myself humming ‘come inside, it’s fun inside’ (lyrical geniuses they are) it stopped me dead in my tracks. All of a sudden I felt like I had just been inducted to this parenthood secret society. Motherhood was becoming second nature – not only were my deliberate thoughts centered around parenthood, but now my sub-conscience was taken over by pre-school musical ear worms.
Mickey Mouse, Doc McStuffins, PuppyDog Pals and, dare I say it….the dreaded Baby Shark swirled around in my head day after day. My mind constantly mixed these catchy tunes together making me feel like some sort of want-to-be club DJ for “Now That’s What I Call Music vol. 5,603 (now I know what the Jersey Shore cast feels like).
I knew I wasn’t the only person who felt this unforeseen pride during a visit with (parent) friends one day. Over adult beverages and stinky cheese, my friend’s husband belted out, chest-puffed, on top of his lungs, all the lyrics of Fancy Nancy. ALL the lyrics. Especially the oh-la-las. It was his version of street cred, but now it was more like Sesame Street. It was like a secret handshake between parents whose lives had changed in ways they could never imagine.
As a middle-schooler who recorded songs off the radio (on tape!) replayed and rewinded them over and over again just to memorize every last word, I completely appreciated the commitment to his musical rendition-tre’ fantastique!
And while I may not have known who Travis Scott was before this last SuperBowl, I do know that Baby Shark just made Billboard’s Top 100…a little nod to all the parents out there.
