It’s not enough to try to get four kids (two of mine, two of the neighbors) out the door and into the car for the half-hour trip to various summer camps across town. No: They have to fight — bitterly — over which radio station we listen to. It sometimes literally comes to blows.
My son, the metal-head, insists on on Live 105, with the bass turned up and the volume cranked. My daughter, who accepts only female vocalists of the Taylor Swift/Rhianna/Katy Perry genre, insists on Movin’ 99.7, and she sings along louder than the radio. The other day, it was absolute chaos as they battled for control of the front seat (and thus the radio knobs), punching and grabbing and pushing like some sort of Winfield St. WWF Smackdown at 8 a.m.
You been there? Here’s the solution.
I shut them both up and tune into …. the New Oldies (I hate that word; I feel so …. Old) on KKSF, 103.7 And make the kids listen to to … REO Speedwagon!
Remember those guys? Maybe it’s a generational thing, but here’s what I remember: “Roll With the Changes” at full tilt, blasting out the holes in my bedroom door, and my mother holding her head in her hands and begging me to “turn off that horrible noise.”
It was horrible, too. It still is. I love it — and I love it even more that my two kids — nine and 12 years old — are sitting in the car holding their heads in their hands and begging their dad to “turn off that horrible noise.”
Next I’m sending the Speedwagon to make peace in the Middle East.