You read it in most parenting books, or hear it in amazed hushed tones from friends and family: “Shh! They soak it up like a sponge! Keep your voice down!”

But they don’t just hear things, they see them, too. On a recent business trip, I observed a 15 month old girl keeping herself amused in the air port, walking around, playing with her purse, holding her mother’s phone to her ear and jabbering at it. Hands free. She had the perfect shoulder tilt to hold it in place while walking and rummaging through her little purse.

My youngest still looks alert and says, “Hello, Ish me” whenever she hears “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell on my 80’s station. Which really amazed me when I realized I had stopped using that as a cell phone ring tone when I was eight months pregnant with her.

But the eldest … he’s been exposed to my musical tastes a bit longer, and it’s starting to show.

For the 20 or so min a day we’re in the car together, he listens to NPR with me. He generally tunes it out (considering the coverage of suicide bombings lately, I’m glad he tunes it out, but I turn it down anyway) and I’ve shusshed him enough that he’s quiet when the traffic lady comes on (well, quieter).

When he was in the womb, I had the radio tuned to “my music” all the time. 80s, some older country, classical, and stuff my parents liked … I was full of hormones and didn’t want to hear the news. Music and loud and he danced along inside of me.

Post-womb time, we put music in his room at bed time, on long car trips, or at home for silly dancing time. Usually kid music or classical; holiday music when appropriate. So he associates long car trips with music he likes.

I needed to make an extra stop on the way home from school the other day, so he asked for music. I didn’t have any on tap, and hit the shuffle button on the FM band. Commentary floated from behind me at every station change as we scrolled through the spectrum.

“That’s not music. (skip forwards)

“I don’t like that music. (skip forwards)

“That music is skipping. (skip forwards)

“That’s just noise.” (To be fair, it was actual static. They still make that, ya know.) (skip forwards)

“No, I don’t like that, either.” (skip forwards …)

Eventually we got to the “oldies” station, and I decided to leave it there. “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison was playing. No comment from the back seat.

The song ended, and The Animals cued up, strumming the intro to “House of the Rising Sun”. I couldn’t remember the lyrics or meaning, and wasn’t up for deciphering them if asked, so I hit skip again.

“No, not that one, go back.” (skip forwards)

“Nooo, not that one. Go back two to the other one.” (skip back)

“No, one more. ” (skip back)

“Yes, that one. That’s better.”

Hee.

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