My husband wonders why I don't listen to more music on my laptop. I've had a little play with Spotify and it's brilliant. I've worked out how to listen to the radio via the web. But so far I haven't taken advantage of this world of free entertainment. He works from home and listens to music all day every day. Lucky him.
I love music. Music has always been a huge part of my life. My husband and I write and record songs. Before we had the babies I loved going to gigs. So why don't I use my new laptop to listen to music? Well this morning I tried and this is what happened...
I was keeping an eye on Twitter when I saw a tweet from @HellenBach announcing a new Janet & John story on Wake Up To Wogan. I used to listen to Terry on my way to work so I decided to fire up the IPlayer. Well, I tried to listen, but I couldn't concentrate on it. I could hear Terry chuckling away, but I wasn't sure why.
Competing with Radio 2 were the following:
The baby was in the Chico Walker. He was bashing away at the buttons playing tunes and finding random beeping, woofing and telephone noises.
The toddler had put the baby bouncer on vibrate and had the 'waves crashing on the shore' at full volume.
The toddler had left the baby bouncer and was playing with V-Tech bus, again at full volume. Life was quieter when he hadn't worked out how to turn it on. Sometimes we used to turn it off and say it was broken. Why do people buy them electronic toys?
The washing machine was on spin.
The microwave was on heating up some milk for the baby's porridge.
The toaster was on.
The kettle was on.
The cat was snoring.
Despite all this I decided to persevere with the radio. I put the babies in their highchairs ready for breakfast. While I was getting it all together, and in addition to the aforementioned cacophany, the boys were complaining too. We call it beeping, but it could also be described as whinging, whining or screaming.
Eventually I sat down to feed them and was able to listen to the radio. They were bemused by my singing along to the likes of Blondie, Neil Sedaka and Norah Jones as they ate their breakfast. But this moment of calm was short-lived as their Grandma soon arrived with their cousin. Their cousin likes to bang toys against the fireguard.
I shut down the IPlayer. Terry couldn't compete with my noisy world. This is why I don't listen to music much during the day!
One of my Twitter friends told me that one day I'd be praying for a quiet house (his children have all flown the nest), I want that now. But of course as soon as I have it I'll want the noise back, I'll want the commotion that comes from having children around. Perhaps I'll fill the void with music, or perhaps I'll enjoy a bit of hush.
