I generally am a vocal advocate for starting the Christmas season (i.e. music and decorations) the day after Thanksgiving. I think Thanksgiving is an important and often overlooked holiday. Once Halloween is over (and sometimes before) stores clear out their fall items and move immediately on to Christmas, skipping that holiday in between. Costco had their Christmas items stocked and out in August! So, I try to create a little space in my life for the Thanksgiving holiday.
But I have to confess.
I started listening to Christmas music yesterday. I think I just needed a little extra cheer since I have a cry-some baby. It helps. He seems to like it too. At least his crying subsided a bit when I had it on. (He also seems to like the Remember the Titans soundtrack.)
Since it's on my mind (and on my computer--Pandora's the greatest) I'll let you in on what I like in the way of Christmas listening.
My favorites are the classics:
Ella Fitzgerald
Bing Crosby
Nat King Cole
Luis Armstrong
Frank Sinatra
Big Band Christmas
Perry Como
Now, I didn't really grow up on any of these. I mostly associate Mannheim Steamroller and the Vienna Boys Choir with Christmas at my parents'. I first got hooked on Big Band and these classics my freshman year of college. One of my roommates had the CD Ella Fitzgerald wishes you a swinging Christmas. Her version of Jingle Bells may be my favorite Christmas song. After getting hooked on that CD I went out and bought the other artists' Christmas CDs from her Era. Love it. The "swinging" songs make me the happiest and get my toes a tapping.
I also like to throw in:
SheDaisy (I have to admit I fought my roommates on this one a little because they're "country". But I soon became converted and 6 years later it's one of my most listened to Christmas albums.)
Jackson 5
Pandora does an excellent job of adding other artists to my list. I may not even bust out my actual CDs this year because of that website.
Oh and by the way
When Matt found out I'd started listening to Christmas music he gave me the "how dare you" head shake and said, "It's not even Thanksgiving yet!"
He believes that the Christmas season starts 2 weeks prior to Christmas.
14 comments:
The last two days have been a little better in the crying dept. with Dean. I think he gets overstimulated easily because his hearing is so keen. His startle reflex is also very sensitive, so I think he was overly tired because he wasn't getting enough sleep. I need to make or find blankets that are big enough to swaddle his arms in and see if it helps. The blankets I have are all too small since he's so long.
I got the book The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg today (at the suggestion of two of my cousins). I like her writing style and that she addresses different temperaments. We'll see if I can make her suggestions work for us and I'll keep you posted.
Great songs! Love SheDaisy Christmas music. Thanks for the ideas! I'll have to check out the ones I don't know. What's pandora? Is it free?
Oh, and its amazing to me how much babies respond to music. My Benjamin settles right down when I start any type of soothing music. What a blessing music is in our lives!
Amy, Pandora.com is a type of online radio. You have to sign up, but it's free. You create a station by typing in an artist or song and then it tries to find similar music. You give the song a thumbs up or down. If you give it a down it stops playing immediately. If you give it an ups, it will then use that new song to help find other songs and artists.
For holiday music you type in the name of a Christmas song and it will bring up a list of artists who sing that song. You click on the version you want.
It's a great invention.
Matt thinks Christmas starts two weeks prior? Oh no. Another Grandpa Grider. Little does he know that for mothers the season sometimes starts the day after Christmas. I knew a mom who did the majority of her toy shopping for the following year on Dec. 26. She had lots of storage space and I guess kids who weren't snoopy or wise to her tricks.
That's a little much, but lots of moms start in July accumulating the loot. Especially if there are a lot of kids. And if you are making some of the presents there is nothing like some Christmas music going to keep you in the mood.
Yeah, I'm usually a "Christmas starts after Thanksgiving" sort of girl, but I have to admit that I, too, couldn't help but start to really get in the mood yesterday. There's something about NYC in the fancy schmancy shopping districts with all of their decked out window displays and holiday lighting that makes me all giddy.
Sorry Dean's a fussy one. I definitely empathize with you. It's rough. Garrett often responds well to music also. We were given the CD called "A Child's Prayer: Primary Songs for Bedtime" and he loves listening to that. We play it when we put him to bed (both naps and bedtime), and oftentimes something inside him clicks when he hears the opening chords of track 1. He calms down and knows that it's time to sleep. It's actually a pretty great CD...I don't mind playing it several times a day. :)
Also, about swaddling blankets...Garrett's enormously long, too. Someone gave us some really simple homemade flannel blankets that work perfectly for swaddling (and they looked very easy to make...just a square piece of flannel sewn around the edges for a finished look). Anyway, if you want the dimensions, let me know and I'll go measure them.
It is sad how quickly Thanksgiving gets overlooked but Christmas music really is just great. Sorry Dean's been so fussy. If you have a chance, check out: http://www.miracleblanket.com/index.htm I have heard amazing reviews about this miracle blanket (especially if your baby likes to be swaddled).
haha! I just started to listen to Christmas music yesterday too! I am listening to it right now! Thanks for the radio tip.
I have my Christmas shopping almost finished!
sorry about dean! You can just take a yard of fleece or flannel and it works great.
Hee hee hee! My Christmas confession is that we start listening to Christmas music every summer! I know, most people probably think we are sick! I am jealous that you have the SheDaisy CD. I went to that concert and don't even own the CD! As I read your post I was remembering MDawg bustin her moves to "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag" Good times!!!
We already have our tree up and the Christmas music has been going on for some time!!!!
I'm so glad you put pandora on your blog. I always want to listen to different christmas songs but don't really want to buy any more. I kind of associate christmas music with thanksgiving since there really isn't any thanksgiving songs. At least that's how i justify listening to it so early.
It's so funny to hear how others perceive the Christmas season. Maren, don't you guys get tired of the Christmas music by the time Christmas shows up starting that early?
We're leaving for CA on the 18th of December, so I asked Matt when we'll put our decorations up. He said, "The 16th?" Jokingly. Kind of.
Celia,
Oddly we don't get sick of Christmas music. Of course it isn't the only music that we listen too, we just throw it in with the other stuff. We have fun collecting a lot of different kinds of Christmas music so we have a great collection of varied stuff so its not just the same old stuff you hear on the radio. Anyways, We are going to be in CA until the 31st when we leave for Canada. Would love to see you if our schedules permit!! We will have to talk more about it later.
Hey I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one with a scrooge for a husband. J/k Scott loves Christmas but decorations don't go up the day after Thanksgiving I am lucky if they go up the 2nd week of December and often with in a few days after Christmas they are all down & packed away, and I have to wait another year for all the fun. Sorry that Dean is a cryer. Both of my boys were "BIG" cry babies. I found out that they both had GI problems and the Dr. put my baby on Zantac when he was 6 weeks, it was amazing the difference that it made. They still continued to cry after the medicine but it was not as bad. I do know that the vaccum is also a great tool with some kids to get them to settle down. I would also deffinetly make sure to get ahold of a bigger piece of material so that you can swaddle him, that made such a difference for me, if I didn't swaddle the boys I never got good naps out of them and the were cranky all day. Good luck. I hope things just get better every day. Melinda
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