Earworms of the Parental Kind

It used to be that I would find certain songs running through my head.  Tunes came from such artists as Billy Joel, Barenaked Ladies, and Bon Jovi.  They may have annoyed me slightly by climbing into my brain and refusing to leave, but at least I could rock out to them for awhile.

Then I had kids.

Joel and Jovi quickly were replaced with Wiggles and Laurie Berkner.  Don’t get me wrong, I like their music.  I’ll freely listen to them with my kids and will dance around the house with those songs blaring.  What I don’t want, though, is for their music to set up shop in my mind and continue running when no kids are around.  It’s a little embarrassing to find yourself humming Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car in the office.

The other day, I was going for some blood work.  As I walked into the building, I found myself humming a tune.  Only this tune wasn’t from a mere children’s singer.  No, this was one worse.  It was from a children’s TV show.

Yes, that was running through my head.  It would not leave.  I had no choice, but to counter it with the most powerful grown-up earworm that I could think of.

Mission accomplished.  The kiddie earworm was driven back.  But for how long?

Disclaimer: The "trble clef" graphic above is from OpenClipArt.org.