Kathleen has returned to work after three months maternity leave, so I’m in the process of making adjustments to being primary daytime caretaker of three month old Caroline. Expect a possible upturn in typos since oftimes I’ll be doing blog entries while balancing her in my lap.
Still, there are ways to divert her. I put on a DVD for her today and she was absolutely captivated: The concert edition of “Sweeney Todd.” She jumped slightly at the factory whistle but otherwise far preferred it to “Lilo and Stitch.”
Oh yeah. *She’ll* be well-adjusted.
PAD
• 
Her first haircut will be a joy.
Rob
(looking back fondly on the days when I needed haircuts…)
PAD! Been there. Done that. My wife and I have two daughters and it was pretty hard when they were little. As long as you have plenty of support from friends/relatives (so that you get a break once in a while) you won’t go crazy.
*Uh, that is, until they become teenagers!*
Just out of curiosity, Peter, what inspired you to play a concert version of “Sweeney Todd” for a three month old? It isn’t the first thing that would come to mind as infant viewing material. However, if you think you’ve come across a new kind of mutually enjoyable form of entertainment for adults and babies alike (Sweeney Todd’s score is a lot more enjoyable than, say, an episode of “Teletubbies”), please let me know if you’d be interested in a copy of the concert version of “Les Miserables.”
Peter,
Heh. That reminds me of the BID column from years back, where you recounted how Ariel would say: “Marnie!”, when asking for her favorite ‘Barney’ video. I remember wryly thinking: “Ah, yes….babies love that Hitchcock!”.
Don’t give up on ‘Lilo & Stitch’ yet. It’ll be interesting to see how she reacts to ‘Treasure Planet’, though! `KIDDING!!
Hooper
( Ticked off at himself for missing ‘Treasure Planet’ when it was in the theatres! )
well, PAD, i could think of worse things for a 3-month old to be watching/listening to than “Sweeney Todd: In Concert.”
“Silence of the Lambs,” for instance.
-eD!
If it makes you feel any better, the only surefire, guaranteed way to stop my four-month-old son’s crying to play the opening credits of BUFFY.
Have you tried putting on a classic Silver Age Green Lantern emblem t-shirt?
(Hey, Hal putting on his GL duds worked to calm down his baby nephew…:-))
You’re such a lucky guy! Get to stay home with the kid and see her grow up and write on top of it! As for balancing her on your lap, you might want to find a baby carrier cloth. She’ll be happy, and you’ll have both hands free to write.
As for music; I’ve had an 11-month-old dance to Terence Trent D’Arby and a six-month-old holding still at diaper changing only when she heard me sing the Joxer song. 😉 They don’t know yet what they’re supposed to like, and if it was up to me, we’d raise our children on more than candy-sweet Disney and kid culture. Well-rounded individuals don’t just grow up on their own.
If she likes Sweeny Todd, she’ll love “Assassins.”
Hey, it’s all good Sondheim about murderers.
PAD, as a stay-at-home dad taking care of three boys, let me give you just one word of advice: Naps. When she goes down for a nap, you go down for a nap at least once a day.
How lucky you and your wife are to be able to make these adjustments. Did you do the same thing when your other kids were small so that your wife could go back to work?
I can see it sixteen years from now:
“Next up in our Home Economics taste test, we have Caroline David and her special meat pie recipe…”
JSM (who should talk–my kid got exposed to MediaWestCon at 2 months of age and has neve been the same…)
For my son (now twelve), when he was Caroline’s age, the opening of the ST-TNG and Patrick Stewart’s rendition of the “Space, the final frontier. . .” speech never failed to get his rapt attention. [Shatner and Nimoy’s respective versions never had the same effect.]
My younger daughter (now eight), on the other hand, prefers “scary” stuff that her older brother tends not to show much interest toward, like “Buffy”, episodes of which I have to vet through her uncle before I let her watch since he gets to see them days before they air in my area (since I don’t have a UPN affiliate].
I suspect that her interest in “monsters” and allegedly scary stuff must have been due to all that “Doctor Who” I watched during her formative years. 🙂
One day, a while back, in an effort to experiment with altered states of consciousness without the use of illegal substances, I ran the taped stage production of SWEENEY TODD and the movie MARAT/SADE back-to-back. No, there wasn’t a child present, and that’s probably a good thing.
I do think that it’s great that you are introducing the young’un to the music of Sondheim at an early age. Many complain that his music is not “hummable,” to which he has responded that “hummability” has to do with familiarity. Nice to know that there will be at least one child who will be able to hum that wonderful music in the years to come.
Hmmm… if musicals get her attention, maybe you should try “Urinetown” at changing time. 😉
Wow. Staying home and raising a daughter. Even with your massive workload, I envy you. I hope I’ll be able to work out similar arrangements when I become a father.
Howard–thanks for the offer, but I already have the concert version of “Les Miz.” I figure once Caroline gets bored with Sweeney, we flip over to my DVD of “Sunday in the Park With George.”
>>How lucky you and your wife are to be able to make these adjustments. Did you do the same thing when your other kids were small so that your wife could go back to work?<<
My first wife wanted to stay home with the first two kids when they were small…which was fine since she wasn’t that enamored of the office job she had anyway. Besides, I had an office job and it wasn’t feasible. By the time Ariel came along, I was working out of the house and was there for a lot more of the child raising.
Different situation with Kathleen. She loves her job (who wouldn’t?) and her giving it up to stay at home would just be unthinkable. Of course, what takes the sting off it for her is that she’s leaving the baby with me rather than day care, which I think is a really tough decision for any working mom to have to make.
PAD
I put on a DVD for her today and she was absolutely captivated: The concert edition of “Sweeney Todd.” She jumped slightly at the factory whistle but otherwise far preferred it to “Lilo and Stitch.”
Oh yeah. *She’ll* be well-adjusted.
Well, so long as when she gets older, she doesn’t say, “I watched TV all the time, and I turned out TV!” and realize she’s deadly serious, you have *nothing* to worry about.
🙂
Howard–thanks for the offer, but I already have the concert version of “Les Miz.” I figure once Caroline gets bored with Sweeney, we flip over to my DVD of “Sunday in the Park With George.”
How appropriate. After all, it’s all about Children and Art. (Does listening to that song in the presence of your children affect your appreciation of it?)
Will you show the young’uns INTO THE WOODS before or after they see the Disney versions of the famous fairy tales?
Don’t feel too bad — I grew up absolutely enamored of Phantom of the Opera. I think that was largely due to the music (which still sticks in my head), but the plot’s hardly “appropriate,” between the murders, the sex, and the obsessions. I remember one time my mom was deeply distressed when I came home with the Leroux unabridged — this was when I was around seven or eight.
If you’re looking for musicals and already have Les Mis, I’d recommend Phantom and then Godspell (if it’s not too contrary to your beliefs, of course). Slightly dark at the climax, but most of it’s lovely and gleeful, with memorable tunes and bright-colored costumes, and adults cavorting like idiots. Bonus: if your daughter watches it when she’s old enough to understand, she won’t be scared of clowns again.
(Yes, I had a very eclectic childhood.)
On a different track, my sister-in-law has to take the 4 month old everywhere. My niece decided she won’t accept bottle feeding anymore, only breastfeeding. This means my brother & my sister-in-law won’t be having any time alone for themselves for awhile.
Would suggesting “The Producers” (original film or inevitable concert DVD) be out of line?
Mike, who can’t get Angel’s method of quieting Conner down out of his head now
Off-topic. I just got finished reading YJ #55. Wow.
Let me just say that again. Wow.
You did an amazing job of wrapping up storylines that we all should have had years to enjoy.
I bow to the master. Wow.
R.I.P. Young Justice
Michael
>>If she likes Sweeny Todd, she’ll love “Assassins.”<<
`Just so long as she doesn’t grow up demanding: “Where’s My Prize?!”!!
Hooper
Mitchell Maltenfort,
Murder? Murder is a tawdry little crime. It’s born of greed, or lust, or liquor. Adulters and shopkeepers get murdered. But when a President is killed…when Julius Caesar was killed…he was assassinated.
Naw…I’m not a fan of “Assassins.”
Regards,
Joseph
Sounds good to me, Peter! At least you’re exposing your children to class and culture at a young age… (I just wish the stage version of SWEENEY TODD, with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury, would be made available on DVD.)
My daughter’s first movies (in the theatre at six months old) were 1) Generations and 2) Lion King.
To this day, she’s a Disney-Trekker. 🙂
Normality is overrated.
My father, who was in seminary at the time, used to read his books to my sister to calm her down. She swears that when she hears Hebrew, she thinks that if only she had a little more time, she could understand it.
Are you knocking Lilo & Stitch? or just saying that your 3 month baby just seems to prefer Sweeney Todd.
As my girlfriend and I seriously think that Lilo & Stitch was one of the best films of 2002.
No, Peter is not knocking Lilo and Stich. Caroline has watched the movie with rapt attention (or as much attention at a 3 week old could at the time).
For those who have asked me by e-mail what is it that I do. I am an Associate Editor withe Del Rey books. Among the many projects I work on are Star Wars and Garfield.
Kathleen
Hi Peter,
This is my first time posting to your site. I’ve read columns here often and enjoy your writing very much.
As a stay at home dad who tries to fit in a struggling art career I have this bit of advice for you; buy Baby Einstein dvd’s. At this young age they are captivated by the colors, music and puppets. It is a great way to get 30 – 60 mins. of peace. Also, a battery operated swing. This is a godsend for those times when you know they need to nap but just wont. The battery ones are better because they are quitter.
That’s all I can think of now. I can hear mine son starting to wake up. He’s walking now and I can tell you, you will be losing a lot of sleep stay up to meet your dead lines when she reaches this stage.
Enjoy your time with her. Of all the jobs I’ve had, and there have been many, I find that nothing in life has given me a greater feeling of accomplishment then watching my son do something new for the first time.
Take care,
Tony
Thanks for confirming that for me Kathleen.
I did think it was unlike Peter to knock a Disney movie.
I just wanted to make sure.
Glad to see that some people have respect for Sondheim’s work. I think he is amazing.
Who is in the concert version of Sweeney? Is it any good?
Also, for the “Hummable” comment, I direct your attention to Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along.” There are quite a few jokes about it in that musical. Also, I think that comment is crap anyway since I always find Sondheim tunes stuck in my head. For example, for the past two weeks, I can’t get “And are you beautiful and plae with yellow hair like her? I want you beautiful and pale the way I dreamed you were, Johanna!” out of my head. In that vein, can anyone tell me what the rest of the lyric is? All I can remember is “And though we shall not meet again my little dove, my sweet… ” I think the rest is “I want you less and less as every day goes by, Johanna.”? Is that right?
Thanks.
–Michael
I second the Baby Einstein advice. It was a lifesaver those first few months of being a stay at home Dad.
“Murder? Murder is a tawdry little crime. It’s born of greed, or lust, or liquor. Adulters and shopkeepers get murdered. But when a President is killed…when Julius Caesar was killed…he was assassinated.”
I turned part of that scene with Booth and Oswald into my audition monologue in college. Great stuff.
“Who is in the concert version of Sweeney? Is it any good?”
Excellent. The CD has George Hearn as Sweeney, Patti Lupone as Mrs. Lovett, Neil Patrick Harris as Tobias and Audra McDonald as the Beggar Woman, as well as opera singers whose names i cannot recall as Judge Turpin, Johanna, the Beadle and Pirelli. I BELIEVE the video was of a later concert in LA (the CD is of the Lincoln center concert) and may have a slightly different cast.
John
(the CD is of the Lincoln center concert) and may have a slightly different cast.
The original cast, I unerstood, was to have Bryn Terfil as Sweeney Todd. I haven’t seen the CD of the concert, and am not sure who is on it, as opposed to the DVD.
Thinking about it, I don’t find it that odd that Caroline finds “Sweeney” comforting. When I’ve had a tiring day at work and am generally fed up with humanity, I put it in, and it never fails to calm me down. (I’m listening to it right now, in fact, although it’s the original Len Cariou version.)
I don’t know if it’s just something about the tunes, or whether the dark subject matter just gets it out of my system…
PAD, you are officially the best daddy *ever*.
I begged and begged my parents when I was in elementary school to take me to see the production of “Sweeney Todd” showing at the Kennedy Center in the 80s. My folks thought it’d be too scary. Hmph. Now I’m all mentally scarred by not getting to see Angela Lansbury sing out her meat pies. (sniffle)
Oh yeah. *She’ll* be well-adjusted
When my son Tim was Caroline’s age or maybe a bit older, we were at my mother’s house when “TNG” came on. My mom was holding him with his back to the TV. When the theme music started playing, Tim straightened up and started wriggling in an attempt to turn TOWARD the screen! My mother, who’s a total Muggle, shook her head and told me, “You’ve corrupted him already!”. For those of you who were at Far/SNOW/Point, my son Tim was the kid walking around in the duct tape suit during the weekend. You can decide for yourself how “well adjusted” that is!
My daughter’s first movies (in the theatre at six months old) were 1) Generations and 2) Lion King.
To this day, she’s a Disney-Trekker. 🙂
Posted by Mark Lindsay
She must have really liked Nemesis then. 😀
“The original cast, I unerstood, was to have Bryn Terfil as Sweeney Todd. I haven’t seen the CD of the concert, and am not sure who is on it, as opposed to the DVD.”
The CD is George Hearn. Terfel was indeed to have starred in the concert, and his presence would have made the cast more balanced between musical theater and opera performers. Terfel just finished a run of the musical at Lyric Opera in Chicago, but, alas, there’s no recording.
Hey
I really want to have the stageconcert on DVD of Les Mis. Can anyone get me this? Willing to pay for it!
Thanks
Rene
There’s no real trick to this. Go to Amazon.com, enter “Les Miserables” in a DVD search, and it’s the very first item to pop up. “Les Miserables: The Dream Concert.” You can buy it new or used, and it’s in stock.
PAD