crazedparent

The composer, part two (alt. title: songwriting secret revealed)...

My wannabe rock star son continues to compose music. This weekend, on a ride home from a lunch date with me, he began to sing his new single, "Dinosaurs in the Tub." I asked him how he came up with his ideas for songs. And I now will share with you Nol's words on how this song--a tale of three prehistoric creatures splashing around in a big tub--was born.

"Let me tell you. Sometimes my brain spins round and round. And when it stops, I get the words for a new song. Yesterday my brain was spinning and it stopped. Want to know the words I got after it stopped?"

The inner mind of a musician in the making. I wonder, is this how John Mayer got his start, with his brain spinning and stopping to provide words and melodies? (And have you checked out his blog? He's a cool cat, that John Mayer.)

 

Party dilemma...

A few weeks ago I was at an event with Nol when I got to chatting with another mom. The conversation was about Halloween, pumpkin patches, all good and fun. Then out of the blue, she said something to the effect of, "You know, your son said something to my child that she talks about all the time." I laughed the "Oh Really!" laugh, because to be honest, Nol is a funny guy and makes up some quirky stuff, like how we have a pink dog named Roxy. She went on to tell me that Nol told her child "I'm not inviting you to my birthday party,"and how this has stuck with the child. I was not surprised that Nol said this...it's been the latest craze at school, this diss of "not inviting" kids to birthday parties. His best friend said it to him. Hell, Nol has even said it to me, his sweet mama.

I mentioned this to the mom, that it appears to be a phase. The kids are learning how they can use words to retaliate against someone being mean to them, that I'll talk to him about it. She then asked if he had a party coming up. No, he didn't, his birthday is in December and at that stage, we hadn't even started talking parties yet, blah blah blah.

I bring this all up as background. I'm now in the process of planning the birthday party. We're not buying into the "invite the whole class" mantra. Besides the fact that our house is a shoebox, it's just not necessary. Nol's turning five, so he can invite five friends to his party. The choice of friends is his to make and the names he's listed thus far are truly his best buds. The invites will be mailed so as to not hurt the feelings of the "un-invited"...or their parents. But it's gonna happen. I can sniff it. And the above mentioned child? Not on the list. Again, Nol's choice. And I'm not going to try to sway his decision to make life easier for me since I'm the one that's going to have to deal with the fallout. But do I give the mom a head's up? Is it worth a pre-emptive strike? I dunno.

I don't want to have to explain myself. I don't want to justify our party planning skills. In the end it's no one's business but ours. It's also just not that big of a deal. So how do I keep it that way?

Help a sistah out...Has this happened to you and how have you handled it?