The soundtrack of my life

An odd property of my brain is that when I get really tired – I start to hear music. I guess a better way to say that is – when I'm tired songs are more likely to stick in my head.

By itself, that's not such a bad thing.

However, when you add in these two facts:

1) Simple, repetitive songs are easier to remember; and
2) We TiVo my kid's favorite shows

-you have the building blocks of the playlist from hell.

Yesterday's selection was It's a Big, Big World, with the way-too memorable passage:

It’s a big world
It’s a big, big world
It’s a big world
Such a big, big world
It’s a big world
It’s a big, big world
It’s a big world
It’s a big, big world

It’s a big, big world
Don’t you agree?
Big enough for you and me

(a song that follows Tom Lehrer's observation that children find "singing [the same thing] fifty times in a row is twice as fun as singing it twenty-five.")

Today's selection is from my son's newest interest: Superwhy.

Who's got the power,
The power to read?
[Something, something, something
that rhymes with "read"]

Super Why!
Super Why!
[Blah, blah, blah, blah
Super Guy?]

Super Why!!

This has been playing on an endless mental loop since this morning. Not knowing all the words ramps up the misery factor – but it really doesn't help that this show is basically a factory for the wedgie-victims of tomorrow.

I mean – the characters in this show are part of a group called the "Super-Readers."

You have Little Red Riding Hood, Princess Pea, Wyatt (the previously undiscovered younger brother to Jack of the Beanstalk),

and – a pig.

Their war cry is To the bookclub!

I know this show is all about teaching kids to read – and that's great. I'm happy my boy's watching this and not some twenty-two minute toy commercial (with regular interruptions for cereal commercials).

But- GOD – isn't there another way to show kids how to use letters? Do they have to nerdify every aspect of learning? Must they hit every stereotype?

More importantly - why do they have to have a freaking theme song? Surely budgets are tight – they could have saved some money and gone straight to the show.

Super Why!
Super Why!
[Blah, blah, blah, blah
Super Guy?]

Super Why!!

Were it not for work and current events all going to hell at once – I'm sure I'd have found the time to saw off my own head.