Slap Your Graham Cracker

The boys have recently taken an avid interest in what music is playing on the radio in the car.  It's entertaining!  And sometimes irritating, when I'm asked to play the same songs over and over and over and over...  Even songs I formerly loved have now become dreaded requests, because there are only so many times a person can listen to "Life is a Highway" before you just don't want to hear it ever again.  Ever.

Fortunately, their taste in music seems to have expanded and we listen to everything from very current Top 40 to my favorite classic rock hits and country music.  My husband has set up playlists on our Pandora account for all sorts of music - Irish Pub Rock (I feel like stomping on the floor and drinking a beer every time we turn that on), Traditional Middle Eastern to set the mood when we've made shish tawook and fattoush for dinner, Bollywood, and Classical Symphonic.  They comment on all of it - what they like, what they don't like, and often ask if I have particular song on my phone, and can we replay it again?  I am grateful for Pandora, iTunes, and Sirius XM Radio, though, because I always have the answer to the questions: What band is this? What's the name of this song?  Who's the guy singing?  And I'm very proud when they start to pick out the instruments they can hear - guitar, drums, saxophone (that was a new one recently!).

Saturday morning two weeks ago, we were driving to the beach and listening to my iTunes playlist in the car.  After the obligatory round of "Another One Bites the Dust," which is the Bean's favorite song right now, and "Any Way You Want It," (the Little One's favorite!), I start cycling through, looking for something different.  "We Will Rock You" is the first thing I find to fill the dead air, and the boys start kicking our seats and clapping their hands and attempting to sing along.  It's hilarious, because the only lyric they seem to understand besides "We will rock you!" is "Mud on your face."  This is their new favorite song - it's awesome!  It's about having mud on your face!  They can't stop laughing and singing this one line over and over.

Then the song is over and the next one comes on.  Trace Adkins' "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk."  As it starts playing, this what is happening in my head:  Shit...maybe they shouldn't be listening to this.  Why is this still on my playlist? Well, it's probably ok - they won't understand most of what it means anyway, right? And, if I shut it off now, it's just going to call attention to it and they'll start begging me to turn it on again, and OMG, what are my kids learning from these songs?!!?!?  Meanwhile, the song is already well underway and there's no stopping it now.  My husband is grinning as we're waiting to see what the boys make of this song.  I'm certain one of us is shortly going to have to explain what a "badonkadonk" is.  And by "one of us" I mean, my husband.  I'm totally making that Dad's job.  A few lines in, the lyric goes, "Hoo-eee, shut my mouth, slap your Grandma."  I cringe.  Slap your Grandma!? Imagine that one out of context!  

The Bean says, "Slap your GRAM?!?" Incredulity is evident in his voice.  I'm already preparing my response to this in my head, when he says, "Gram is another word for graham cracker.  So, he just said 'slap your graham cracker.'  That's so funny!!"  The Little One is laughing hysterically and the two of them proceed to sing "Slap your graham cracker" over and over, oblivious that the song has moved on. My husband and I are laughing so hard in the front seat of the car neither of us can catch a breath.  Of all the ways that could have gone, I never saw that coming!

They now ask for the "Slap your cracker" song...