I Needed an Excuse to Introduce My Children to the Awesomeness That is 80’s Rock

Last Kevin was out of town for part of one week and most of the next. With only one parent to manage all four children, I was feeling a little frazzled. And when I get tired out or stressed, I frequently need to clean stuff. But without a lot of time to do that, the amount of clutter that was constantly underfoot due to the drop it and leave it mentality of my offspring was absolutely driving me nuts! I happened to remember a tip I read somewhere and somewhen (don’t ask too much of my memory-I’m lucky I actually remembered what I did) and decided to give it a try. Here is the idea: you play one song and for the duration of that one song everyone in the house picks up as much as they can as fast as they can. Of course, an upbeat tempo is key to the whole process. And I added that things needed to put away in their proper places.

Imagine my glee when I played a 3 minute song and the entire living room was picked up in 1 ½ minutes! It seems that knowing there is a definite deadline, my boys will actually pick up at a speed that is not on the slow side of snail. So not only is the “One Song Pick Up” becoming a fixture in our house, but I get to listen to an assortment of music that I haven’t listened to regularly in a couple of decades. “Rock This Town” by the Stray Cats is Matthew’s current favorite but the other boys like some variety so we try to mix it up. Eighties rock seems to be everyone’s favorite so Kev bought an entire album of 80’s favorites and we’ve been picking up to Billy Joel, Styx and Bon Jovi.

Is it sad that I still remember almost all the lyrics to nearly all 79 songs on that album? And is it even sadder that hearing it makes me dance like a sixteen year old in a thirty-nine year old body? It may not be pretty, but it’s fun!