doubledutch's Profile

i think with very young children, it would make sense to just ask them what color they would like (blue, green, whatever) and the adult would pick the actual color - or pull a few acceptable swatches and have the child choose one. i'm thinking about my 4- and 6-year-old boys and it just doesn't seem necessary at all to take them to the paint store and have them choose from the zillions of swatches.

that would be fun with an older child, and at that point it makes sense to try out a sample of the paint, or perhaps to compromise with an accent wall if they get their heart set on a really overwhelming color.

i still remember painting my bedroom pale pink with my mother and grandmother when i was 9 or 10. i have no idea whether i chose the color, but helping with the work is what gave me a sense of ownership.

ooh, i want more details about #7!

what a great shoot - all the kids' rooms should feature the kid actually using the room. love it.

yes! i take this approach with a lot of things, and in many cases, i use the word "powerful" in place of "dangerous" (like with fire - it can be destructive but it is life-giving, so i like the term powerful) and tell my children we need to handle powerful things with respect.

of course, i want my kids to be safe, but i think it's safer to try to understand things as much as possible rather than just being afraid.

splitty, that's an interesting point, and i hadn't really thought of the fact that we *sing* a lot of songs that would be considered kids' music. it's just that we don't have / listen to *recordings* of it, which is what the post was asking about. i hadn't considered that "kids' music" actually is a pretty big part of our daily routine.

on the other hand, i don't know the songs you mentioned, and i don't feel like i missed out on anything as a kid. :) we sang hymns and cowboy songs. we listened to prince and madonna. it all worked out somehow.

what the hell? why is this for dads? that's so uncool. thanks for inviting us moms to answer for the dads if we want.

anyway, we don't do kids' music, unless you want to count the soundtrack to "where the wild things are" but i wouldn't say that's specifically for kids.

my kids love daftpunk ("robot music" as they say), "jimmy" by m.i.a. was a favorite for a long time, they've been brainwashed into liking she & him because that's what i listen to every saturday morning during my big cleaning routine, and of course they love the beatles and the stones. oh, for a few months they were obsessed - totally bananas - over crystal castles.

my kids are young (4 & 5) so at this point they don't object to anything i listen to, and don't have their own requests, but i'm sure they will and that's fine. music is a huge part of my shared history with each of my parents. i loved learning about their favorite bands/songs/albums and how they related to different parts of their lives, as well as their reaction to the stuff i was listening to - even if we disagreed, i still liked their opinions, and loved that they asked me for recommendations.

ohdeedads. come on.

i have a small three-drawer dresser in the dining room for my kids' art supplies, since they do that stuff at the table. it's great!

huh - i do "let them be individuals" . . . couldn't stop them if i tried. kids also love to feel they are part of something bigger than themselves. my boys love their matching things in their room (and the few matching clothes they have). i guess it's kind of like wearing a uniform because you're part of the team, not because you're an inmate child of warden-like parents who demand conformity at the expense of your personal identity. or, wait, maybe that *is* me! haha . . . no. really. my kids are great.

awesome room! you should invite that blogger to do a tutorial on her leather mobile.

beautiful! i love it. thanks for sharing this.