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What happens when the family goes somewhere in the car and they can’t decide on what music to listen to - mom’s, dad’s or the kids’ favorites? Well, in my family, if it’s dad that’s driving we listen to sports radio, rockabilly, old time country, punk, or ska. Paul and I have similar tastes but don’t agree on everything. (I’m not a big ska fan, but can tolerate it most of the time. However, I can only listen to the Dead Kennedys in very small doses.)

The kids usually request Devo in daddy’s truck, which is fun but then you have to explain why it’s not polite to sing Devo’s “Mongoloid” out loud at a restaurant. Sigh.

If I’m the one driving, I listen to local rock stations or music I listened to in high school like Duran Duran or Bruce Springsteen. I’m also a talk radio junky, which is why my kids are very aware that Barak Obama is running for the presidency. (And love it when Randi Rhodes plays comedienne Rusty Warren’s Bounce Your Boobies on air.)

Occasionally, the kids will request Green Day’s American Idiot, which rocks but is full of f-bombs and drug references that I hope are going over their heads. Another sigh.

But if it were up to the kids, we’d be listening to the Disney CDs I received from the folks at Mom Central:

• Rhyming Circus by Ralph’s World (i.e. Ralph Covert of The Bad Examples)
• Juice Box Heroes from the Imagination Movers
• Choo Choo Soul
• Here Come the 123s by They Might Be Giants
• Disney Music Block Party - Disney favorites performed by Disney Playhouse regulars like the Doodlebops (Lucie’s favorites), the Wiggles and Dan Zanes

So far, I like Disney Music Block Party and Here Come the 123s. Like Devo (think the theme songs to the Nickelodeon shows Rugrats and Rocket Power - yep, it’s those Mothersbaugh brothers.) They Might Be Giants have created kids’ music that hip parents like, too.

I also gave a listen to Choo Choo Soul, which the kids like but I couldn’t stand. I’m just not into hip hop that much. Luckily, Nathan has a stereo in his room to listen to all his new Disney CDs with his sister. Unfortunately, they can never agree on what to listen to, and end up fighting more than listening to music. Sounds like we’ll have to ask Santa to bring Lucie her own CD player for the holidays.

I’m going to be chatting LIVE on with Kristen Chase on the Motherhood Uncensored Show about books and activities to prepare your little ones for their first year of school, whether it’s preschool, pre-K, or kindergarten. The show is on Wednesday, July 30 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. You can listen to it live at blogtalkradio or you can call in at 646-915-8634 and chat with us.

If you missed it, you can listen to the archived show here.

For a lot of kids the first day of school is scary. Reading books and talking about school can help calm their fears. Here are some books and activities you can do with your child to get the discussion started.

Books

• Kevin Goes to School (Kane/Miller) – Belgian author Liesbert Slegers’s character Kevin and his friend Ali help make the transition to school less frightening.
• Something for School (Available in August 2008 from Kane/Miller Book Publishers) It’s the first day of kindergarten, and Yoon’s new teacher and classmates mistake her for a boy. Oh no! This book is about starting school and making friends instead of assumptions. By Korean author Hyun Young Lee.
• Little School (Kane/Miller) Australian author Beth Norling gives readers a realistic account of preschool life so your preschooler knows exactly what to expect when they start.
• Tibili: The Little Boy Who Didn’t Want to Go to School (Kane/Miller) French author Marie Léonard set a story of a reluctant first-time school-goer in Africa. Also available in Spanish and French.
•  First Day Jitters (Charlesbridge) Author Julie Danneberg’s character Sarah Jane is scared and doesn’t want to start over at a new school. With prodding from her father, Sarah Jane reluctantly goes off to school. She is quickly befriended by Mrs. Burton, who helps calm her nerves. Also available in Spanish.
• Kindergarten Countdown (Random House) By Anna Jane Hays and illustrated by Lind Davick. A little girl named Lucy counts off the days by naming what she’ll do in kindergarten, what she’ll wear, and what she’ll learn. (Read my review of Kindergarten Countdown.)

For more book ideas see my post Back to school book roundup.

Activities

Here are some links to articles that can help you prepare your child for that scary first day of school:

• First-day jitters: starting preschool by Isadora Fox, Ilisa Cohen and Diane Debrovner of Parents.com
• Cures for First-Day Jitters - by the American School Counselor Association
• Preparing for the First Days of School by Ellen Booth Church of Scholastic Parent
• 10 Steps for a First Trip to School from Scholastic Parent
• Click here for some school lunch ideas.

Lucie was a fussy baby. I’m convinced she had colic along with her reflux. Nathan on the other hand wasn’t fussy, but his reflux was a hundred times worse. He could projectile vomit and did large spit ups 30 to 40 times a day. (I’m not exaggerating – we kept track for the doctors.)

One of the things I tried for Nathan’s reflux, but not Lucie’s colic was gripe water which is recommended for baby gas, along with colic. I gave up on it when I used it on Nathan since it didn’t help with reflux. However, I’m not sure why I never tried it with Lucie. Maybe if I had know about Colic Calm, I would have given it a try.

Colic Calm is a homeopathic gripe water that calms a fussy baby who has gas, colic, tummy pain, and they claim even even reflux. They also recommend it for teething.

Colic Calm gripe water contains NO alcohol, sugar, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), simethicone (another thing I tried), herbal oils or extracts, citric acid, or artificial sweeteners, flavors or colors. Also, there is NO wheat, gluten, soy, starch or dairy in our formula, which is very important when it comes to allergies.

The Best Book for the Fussy Baby’s Parents

I highly recommend The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer by Harvey Karp, MD. He gives parents strategies like swaddling, jiggling, holding sideways, swinging, and using white noise.

The Happiest Baby on the Block was a lifesaver for me. And I hope you find that with Colic Calm gripe water and Dr. Karp’s techniques you’ll have a very happy baby soon.

Summer vacation has barely started and I’m already fighting with Nathan about his summer reading. (Yes, I really do think he’s a Weirdo from Another Planet! and acts like Calvin at times.)

We’ve joined our local library’s summer reading program. To be eligible for all the rewards (coupons to the rec center, mini golf, fast food places, etc.) each child has to read (or be read to) for 21 hours from June 2 to August 8. Without timing it down the last second, I’m having Nathan and Lucie read 30 minutes a day, Monday through Friday. It’s a reasonable amount of time for an eight- and a five-year-old.

Nathan is also attending his school’s summer reading camp. The class is meeting three times this summer for an hour each time at the library. Nathan’s goal, set by his teacher, is to read 11 books in June.

Did You Really Read That?

This morning when he came to me with a pile of books he supposedly read in one hour between yesterday and today, I knew summer was going to be tough. Either Nathan choose books that were too easy, or he zoomed though them, reading a paragraph here and glancing at a picture there.

He claims to have read an old kid’s book called “The History of Chemistry” this morning. However, it’s 75 pages long, and would take me an hour to read it - and I read very quickly. So as his reward for such stellar behavior (not!) he has to read the whole book Saturday and tell his father, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry, what the book was about.

Thank goodness I don’t have this problem with Lucie. She loves books even though she can’t read yet. Since Nathan is the Wildest Brother, I have him to read to her out loud just so they can stop fighting for a few minutes - another big problem this summer.

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Stop by my blog, A Mama’s Rant and enter my Get your toddler to sleep with a little help from Johnson’s contest. I’m giving away $50 worth of Johnson’s baby products!

While setting up the contest, I learned that a leading sleep expert, Dr. Jodi A. Mindell, recommends that you use Johnson’s bedtime products (bath wash and lotion) followed by quiet activities like reading books is the best way get your child to go to sleep. You may also want to try some sleep-inducing snacks.

Here are some sleepy time book recommendations from a few of my favorite publishers.

Kane/Miller Book Publishers

Sophie’s Big Bed by Tina Burke. Even though she’s been sleeping in a big girl bed for years, my daughter really enjoyed this book. If you’re trying to transition your child from crib to bed, this is a wonderful book to read together. Also available in Spanish. (Baby/Preschool)

I Don’t Want to Go to Bed by Tony Ross. Why do I have to go to bed when I’m not tired and get up when I am? asked the Little Princess. Why indeed? Because the King and Queen know best, that’s why. Never mind about spiders and monsters, never mind another glass of water, it’s time to go to bed! But when the Little Princess finally goes and the King comes in to kiss her goodnight…she’s gone! Baby/Preschool.

Marc Just Couldn’t Sleep by Gabriela Keselman and illustrated by Noemi Villamuza. It’s bedtime, but Marc just can’t sleep. He’s scared. He’s worried. Mom to the rescue! One of the first things you learn as a parent is you can’t force anyone, particularly your own child, to fall asleep. If they just can’t sleep, they just can’t sleep. Marc’s resourceful and resilient mom know this, but, like the rest of us, tries anyway. Ages 4 to 8.

The Nights Of The World by Corinne Albaut and illustrated by Arno. Everyone closes their eyes the same way, but then what? An original way in which to discover other places and people and to learn about similarities and differences. Read about five children from five different regions of the world and learn how each child sleeps. Ages 4 to 8.

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