A Scary Good Cause – BOO to You!

Every once in a while, I have a moment when I revel in the genius of fundraisers.  Having been in the ‘business’ for longer than I care to admit, I have grown a little numb to traditional fundraising appeals.  That’s why, when we woke up on October 1 to discover that we had been “BOO-ed” for Children’s, I knew I had to share. The thing that makes this idea so great is that lots of families in our area “BOO” their neighbors and friends already.  My kids take great pleasure in sneaking over to their friends’ houses to deliver an anonymous bucket of Halloween goodies (sneaking is relative here given the advent of doorbell cameras, but you get the idea…), and we wait anxiously for our own mysterious haunting every Halloween.  So to connect BOOing with such a great cause just warms the cockles of my creative-charity-loving heart.

Children’s Health (the parent organization of Children’s Medical Center and its affiliate network) is the gold standard for pediatric healthcare both in the Dallas community and around the country.  Children’s serves more than 298,000 patients every year, and no one is turned away due to financial hardship.  Both of my kids have been treated at Children’s as have several of my other favorite kids in the world, each with their own testimony about the greatness of Children’s. Because Children’s is a special place – a really special place.  And I want to be clear in my bias here – I love Children’s, and we support it in every way we can.

Back to the BOO! (and booze if you’re sipping a potent potable whilst perusing this post), here’s how it works: Now through the end of the month, you can reserve your sign online (click here to check it out) and pick it up from your nearest purveyor of scary signs (conveniently listed by neighborhood and zip code on the order page). The donation per sign is $20, and you deduct the entire ‘cost’ thanks to a generous underwriter.  I spent less than 30 minutes total on the logistics (order time & drive time), and it was well worth it.   Don’t worry, my ghouls – you should still leave a little treat for the boo you BOO, but, with the Children’s program this Halloween, it’s even more meaningful because your donation will also provide special treats for Children’s patients. 2018 marks the first year for Buy a BOO in Dallas, but a similar program raised more than $100,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta last year.  I can’t wait to see the growth and impact of this program on the lives of kids, especially at Halloween.

If “BOO-ing” isn’t your thing (or you’ve come across this post at another time of year), there are many other ways to support Children’s.  There’s National Cape Day in November, the Red Balloon Run & Ride in April, and other opportunities for volunteering and creative charity.  The point is that whether it’s Children’s or another favorite nonprofit, your support is always meaningful and will go a long way towards cultivating care in our communities.  And there’s nothing scary about that!

Also, since you’ve taken the time to read all the way through this post, can I just say that I’ve resisted every urge to inject horrible Halloween puns throughout?  I mean, I know there are a few sprinkled here and there, but I think I have demonstrated tremendous restraint given the subject matter.  So, because #momjokes are their own reward, I present two of my Halloween favorites…

What do you call a vampire that lives in the kitchen?
Count Spatula

Knock knock.
Who’s there?
BOO.
BOO who?
Don’t cry.  It’s only a joke.  Or an amazing way to support Children’s!

Click here to learn more about Children’s Health.  And here to find out about opportunities to support the great work they do for kids.

Top 5 Kid Bands for Grown Ups

Check out these kid jams that help make carpooling and road tripping much more groovy!

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Our family is really into music.  I mean, we’re really into music.  We’re always singing loudly and busting into impromptu dance parties.  But people are often surprised that my kids rarely listen to FM radio or popular music.  Instead, my husband and I try to curate their music because, let’s be honest, it’s pretty jarring to hear a six-year-old kid sing a song about a one-night stand.  And, in my opinion, a fifth grader has no business bopping along to lyrics with curse words that demoralize women, even if edited and sung via Kids Bop.  Nonetheless, we owe it to our kids to teach them about good music.  Most of us started exposing our children to music in utero (headphones on your baby bump, anyone?) with the hope of growing well-cultured offspring.  Whether we mean to or not, we shape our kids’ musical tastes. I can still sing along to most every song by Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Little River Band because that’s the music I grew up on (there’s a bad moon on the rise NOT a bathroom on the right, thank you very much John Fogerty).

My kids weren’t born requesting Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 or, much to my jazz-loving husband’s chagrin, selections from Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue.   But they pay attention to what we’re listening to in the car and at home.  And, when they like what they hear, they ask to play it over and over and over again.  We listen to kids channels on Amazon Music and Pandora, and we love absolutely everything about SiriusXM’s Kids Place Live.  I’m not a music reviewer; I don’t have a degree in music or any real musical appreciation standards, but I know what makes my kids sing along and demand we turn it up.  And in those moments, I make mental notes about what we should add to our ever-growing playlist.

It goes without saying that there are some great grown up musicians who are suitable for kids too. Thankfully the likes of Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Imagine Dragons, and even the Beatles are cool enough for everyone in the family.  But even some of their songs aren’t necessarily appropriate for young ears.  I struggle with spinning funky beats that are groan-proof and suitable for kids that are four years apart in age.  We share pop music and show tunes and lots of classics and absolutely delight in landing on an artist or song that falls in the family music sweet spot.

In our quest to find family-friendly music from various sources, we’ve come to love some children’s musicians that I think grown ups will love too.  I’d encourage you to take a listen and share with your budding music lovers.  A note of caution about kids’ music though – it’s clever and silly and the lyrics are meant to stick in that part of your brain that’s difficult to silence (a.k.a. the dreaded phonological loop).  And remember it’s music made for kids so manage your critiques accordingly.  Here are my TOP 5 (well, actually, six) for your consideration:

  1. Okee Dokee Brothers –

Not-really-brothers Joe and Justin write and sing folksy songs about everything from canoeing to mosquitoes to the illusive Jackolope.  Their trilogy of Grammy-nominated albums follows their many adventures in the outdoors, and the harmonies and clever lyrics are most prominent. It’s hard to say which album is best, and even though Can You Canoewon the Grammy, we have favorite songs from all of their albums.  “The Great Divide,” “Lighten Your Load,” “You You You” and “Campin’ Tent” are standouts.

  1. Parry Gripp

My apologies in advance for this awesome recommendation, but Mr. Gripp is a master of the earworm.    His novel kid songs (mostly about animals and food) haven’t really been combined into album form because he introduces them mostly through YouTube, but they’re worth downloading individually.  Some of our favorites include: “Space Unicorn,” “Raining Tacos,” “Black Hamster,” and “Do You Like Waffles?”, but tune to his Pandora channel or ask Alexa to play his songs and discover your family’s favorites.

  1. Laurie Berkner Band

Laurie Berkner is the OG of kids’ music.  She’s been stomping around like a dinosaur since 1997 when her first album Whaddya Think of That? was released.  People magazine called her, “The queen of children’s music,” and it’s a title well-deserved.  Her music is probably most suitable for younger kids (my son insists he outgrew her music at eight), but we still play her holiday album on repeat without any complaints. Her dance remix album injected a new twist into some of our old favorites like “Victor Vito” and “The Cat Came Back,” but the originals are still as fun as they’ve ever been for me.

  1. Recess Monkey/Anything by Jack Forman

These teachers turned kiddie rockers know a thing or two about catchy lyrics.  And they’re impressively prolific.  They’ve released an album every year since 2009, and you’ll find family favorites on all of them.  In the interest of full disclosure, everyone in our family loves Recess Monkey front man, Jack Forman, and his Sirius XM Kids Place Live Show, Live from the Monkey House!, so we may be a bit biased here.  But Jack’s solo stuff including “Yodeling Yoda” is definitely also worth a listen.

  1. TIE – Lori Henriques & Gustafer Yellowgold

The number five spot on this list was a source of great debate in our house.  I lobbied vehemently for Lori Henriques, but the kids thought Gustafer should take the Cakenstein.  So we declared it a tie…

Lori Henriques’s music is jazzy and artful and just plain fun.  Lori is an absurdly talented musician with a distinct sound in the kid music genre. “How Great Can This Day Be” should be mandatory morning music while “The Poop Song” (yep, that’s right) and “Vocabulary” are sure to delight the entire family.

Gustafer Yellowgold (Morgan Taylor’s alter-ego), on the other hand, is the kind of artist and musician that is difficult to categorize.  His songs are skillful accounts of well-imagined schemes with evil foods and vivid adventures.  His “Cakenstein” and “Baconstein” are our obvious favorites, but Gustafer’s prolific audio and video offerings are a sure winner for long roadtrips and kitchen dance parties.  Also, if you get the chance to see him live, go and take the kids.  You won’t regret it.

I hope you’ll consider giving a few of these talented artists a listen.  Maybe you can jam to “Raining Tacos” on the next Taco Tuesday or surprise your kids with “Baconstein” over breakfast.  If you do, let me know what you think.  And I love learning about new children’s artists and songs so please share your favorites here.

“Where words fail, music speaks.”
-Hans Christian Andersen

Why Bon Mot?

What’s in a name?

Welcome to Being Bon Mot! I’m very excited to begin this web logging journey, and I’m so grateful that you’ve taken the time to visit.  Regardless of how you came upon this blog, you’re probably wondering about the genesis of the bon mot (pronounced “bahn mo”) part of Being Bon Mot. In this post, we’ll explore my blog naming journey and seek to justify its relative obscurity.

I’m so glad you asked!

Before dipping my toe into this icy lifestyle blogging water, I did a lot of research. A lot of research – I even read some real, tactile, non-digital books.  I scoured Pinterest and other blog sites for tips, tricks, and pitfalls (I’ve listed some of my favorites at the end of this post.). All of these sites were unanimous on one thing – your blog name matters.  Sure, lots of other things matter almost as much, but your identity is forever.  “Don’t be too specific,” they say.  “Don’t be too obscure,” they warned.  “Your URL is key,” they insisted.  So how did I end up at Being Bon Mot?

Truth be told, most all of the good blog and web addresses are taken (or at least the most obvious ones I dreamed up).  It is 2018 after all.  I’m not the proverbial canary in the blogging coal mine here.  Many have flown fearlessly into these dark and treacherous conditions before me and swiped all of the clever monikers in their tiny beaks. They’re certainly well-deserved after helping pave the way for the likes of me.  While the blog-naming voyage was much less suffocating, the challenge did seem perilous at times – conjure a brand, business, and blog name fit to survive uncertain conditions.

Pardon my French – Arriving at the Nom De Guerre

Bon Mot is clearly a French term.  Quite literally it translates to “right or good word.”  But let’s get one thing clear right now – I don’t speak French. Not even a little bit.  I can’t even ask where the bathroom is in Paris or how to get to the train station in Lyon.  The longest French phrase I know comes from “Lady Marmalade” and shouldn’t be uttered in mixed company.  And I’m not a Francophile.  Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against French people, French speakers, or France writ large, but my enthusiasm for all things French is passive at best.

So, what about Being Bon Mot?  Why start this journey in the taxonomy of relative obscurity?  The answer lies somewhere between my idiosyncratic interests and intellectual pursuits.  So, what do Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Bill Bryson, and the Cheshire Cat have in common?  They’re all bon mot.  As a matter of fact, most of my favorite historical figures, authors, and even on-screen characters are often described as being bon mot.  My near-fangirl interest in Ben Franklin first exposed me to the term as he’s quintesentially bon mot.  And while I wouldn’t dare compare my work ethic to that of Hamilton, my turn of phrase to Bill Bryson, or my cleverness to the Cheshire Cat, that’s what I aspire to. That’s what this blog seeks to accomplish – to explore clever observations about my adventures (nay mis-adventures) in travel, parenting, teaching, volunteering, and life in general.  Being Bon Mot is meeting our most amazing experiences and unexpected challenges with an intelligent retort and witty riposte. Or as Mr. Franklin quipped more aptly: “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”

I hope you’ll find what you’re looking for here, and if you don’t, please email me or comment with questions and post ideas.

A Few of My Favorite Blogs on Blogging

Mostlymorgan.com

Heytherechelsie.com

Classycareergirl.com

Chicfetti.com