The Apple (iPod) Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree

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One of birthday presents that Iz received yesterday was an iPod. No, not an iPod Touch or anything that fancy. I bought her a pink shuffle, a starter iPod so to speak.

Her big birthday present was supposed to be the cool canopy bed for her American Girl doll, Julie. It was the kind of canopy bed I always wanted when I was growing up but never got, just like those cool patent leather go-go boots that every girl had at school except for me. Unfortunately, the bed was backordered until June, so I had to think of something else fast.

Iz has always loved music. At one point, I made a lot of “mix” CDs for our long trips to Pennsylvania. Her favorites were “Train in Vain” by the Clash and “American Baby” by the Dave Matthews Band. She’d sit in the back in her car seat and sing along, though back then she didn’t know all the words so she mostly made up her own!

It was reassuring then to know that she liked music, especially most of the things I liked. In contrast, it was about then that Nathan developed his own taste in music. Nathan listened to groups with names I had never heard of like Dinosaur Jr, metal bands like Metallica, and was fond of the Nine Inch Nails’ song “Only” which went “There is no you, there is only me, there is no f*cking you, there is only me!”

Nathan and I still have CD wars in the car. He’ll put his in, I’ll roll my eyes. I’ll put mine in, and then he’ll roll his eyes. Finally, Nathan realized if he couldn’t beat me, he might as well join me halfway and create a few CDs with some songs on it that “even you would like Mom!”

Anyway, I figured Iz just might be ready for her own iPod. She had often asked me if she could have my iPod when I died or no longer needed it anymore. Err, hoping the first wouldn’t be true any time soon and knowing the second would never be true, because my iPod went everywhere with me, I knew I needed to get her one eventually; the timing seemed right.

When Iz opened her iPod yesterday, for which I let Nathan take the giving credit, she screamed, “Oh, an iPod!” She immediately bear hugged Nathan and said, “Nathan, thank you!” Now, Nathan can do no wrong in Iz’s eyes for at least the next two weeks!

Of course, she opened her two American Girl presents, an outfit and a pet rabbit, pushed them aside and then asked me, “Mommy, when can we do my iPod?” It was too late, so I told her we could set it up today. She asked, “Can I get Taylor Swift on it?” Nathan glared at me much like he did when I told him Iz was going to be a cheerleader, and I said, “Um, sure,” and Nathan shook his head in music appreciation disbelief.

When she got home from school today, she asked, “Mommy, can we do the iPod now?” (Funny, but she has yet to ask if or when she’ll receive Julie’s canopy bed.) It would appear that the gift of music was a big hit. That’s my girl!

I hooked her iPod up to my laptop, set it up, and then I started to load songs I knew she liked. I had a $25 gift card that I had just redeemed, so I told her she could buy a few songs. She then asked, “Can I get Taylor Swift?”

Not being a huge Taylor Swift fan, I grimaced internally, but I said to Iz, “Sure, you can!” Her iPod. Her songs. And, I respect that.

I only had time to put on 15 songs, but it was enough for her. She was raring to use it, though we had to have a 5-minute lesson on how to go back and forward through her playlist. I think most of it was lost on her after the first Taylor Swift song started to play, because she quickly said, “Okay, okay, Mommy!” and wandered off to her room.

In about two minutes, she was singing loudly. In another minute, she was dancing. And when she boogied by the doorway, she was singing into her shuffle like it was a microphone.

The phone rang, and I answered it. Amazingly, it was someone who wanted to set up a phone interview with me. I was trying to arrange a time to talk next week, but Iz was now singing “You Belong With Me” at the top of her lungs in the hallway. I said to the person on the phone, “Excuse me for a minute. I have to go downstairs. My daughter just got an iPod and is singing Taylor Swift so loudly, I can’t think.”

Thank goodness there was laughter on the other end of the line. Actually, despite being a little loud, that Iz has a good little singing voice. I have to give credit where credit is due. She gets that from her Dad and not from me!

When I came back upstairs, she was still plugged in and singing along. When she stopped suddenly, I thought either she or the iPod had run out of batteries. She came over to me and asked, “Mom, can you put it on Taylor Swift again?”

I did, and in a minute, she was off down the hallway singing full volume. I laughed and thought, “Wow, I have created a little music monster. How cool!” And, I guess if I can't beat her, I might as join her and learn to like Taylor Swift, too. ♥