High Maintenance Mom

The CD and DVD giveaways this month (see November 05 giveaway) include a selection of well known favorites and should-be well known favorites from Rounder Records Group. We've all heard of Raffi and you might even own a CD or two but like me, you may not have appreciated him very much until you saw how much your kids love him. For older kids, "Scat Like That" is a big hit. And "Beethoven's Wig" is fun for everyone...

I was convinced my kids were going to grow up listening to my music. But then I bought into the Music and Me thing and found my drives to be full of simple sounds put to drum beats. I actually grew to like many of the Music and Me songs but for some reason Raffi felt like giving in. My mother-in-law bought us "Baby Beluga" a while ago and B loved it. I will admit to having liked the songs "Baby Beluga" and "All I Really Need" from the beginning but I resisted Raffi's magic - even though I enjoyed thinking about the movie "Beetlejuice" every time we heard "Day O". Now, after seeing both my kids dance to "Singable Songs for the Very Young" and request to watch the Raffi concerts, I too have become a Raffi fan (I should have known, my mother-in-law has been right on with every gift for the boys).

"Singable Songs for the Very Young" became an instant hit with my kids. B sings "Willoughby Wallaby Woo" all the time and Baby Entropy loves "Bumping Up and Down". If you have young kids and want one Raffi CD, buy this one. I would rank it in my top three children's CDs because when I pressed play for the first time, my kids' faces lit up as they started to dance and sing.

The DVD concerts had a similar effect. The kids love watching him even more than they enjoy just listening to him. As an adult, it was fun to watch the audience outfits change from A Young Children's Concert in 1984, to Raffi in Concert with the Rise & Shine Band in 1988, to Raffi on Broadway in 1993. He's fun to watch. Even Baby E will watch for a bit and he's been resisting the TV for months now. If you are looking for a DVD, I recommend "Raffi in Concert" with all three concerts on one DVD.

It's getting late so I will quickly add that "Scat Like That" was also an instant hit with B (3.5 years old and enjoys verbal games). He likes to listen to it before bed. I've heard him singing songs from the CD as well.

B received the first Beethoven's Wig from his granny (my mother-in-law) a few years ago and we all loved it instantly. We bought Beethoven's Wig 2 when it first came out and enjoyed it, but not as much as the first. It's still a great concept - putting words to classical music - and we often learn something from the lyrics.

Thank you very much to Rounder Records Group for the wonderful selection of CDs and DVDs for the November giveaway.