Hot Cheetos and Takis: Implications of music and family

Get to know the people behind the production in this interview by The FADER.

If you haven't seen the recent buzz about the Hot Cheetos & Takis video (above), and the kids of the Minneapolis North Community YMCA extracurricular rap class Beats & Rhymes, known as Y.N.RichKids, you have missed out on a lot. These aren't just cute kids with a professional music production and a few videos. These kids have, in this parent's opinion, embodied the potential of music to be more than just background noise for kids. In a music market overrun by adult themes, it is the non-profit programs that have been instrumental in developing child-level music appreciation without the degradation of their status in society.

What does that mean? I mean to have you watch the video, the rest of the videos on their web site, and consider what they could be rapping about. The most controversial song I've heard so far on the free downloads (that's right, FREE) of music from Y.N.RichKids is "G.F." on the School House Rap album, about a boy seeing a pretty girl and wanting her to be his girl. Compared to what that could be, the spectrum of lyrics that could go along with a more adult subject like relationships, the song is more middle school "like" than the complexity of "love". In all, I am very impressed with the lyric choices, the subject matter and the professional polish of the music this program is producing. It's something I am not ashamed of letting my kids listen to.

Now, in full disclosure, rap is not generally the favorite of our family. I grew up with rap and hip hop in the 80s and 90s, but my tastes turned to guitar-related music as I was learning guitar and rock myself. Morgan has always been more into pop, country, rock and punk. The kids vary from pop music to tweenpop, though each has their own personal taste (Aiden loves rock and punk, Alayna is more into tweenpop like Sabrina Gomez and Demi Levato, Brooklyn likes pop like Bruno Mars, and Bella likes classic rock). However, it's not like they haven't heard rap and hip hop before. I listen to crossover hip hop and spoken word, like The Roots, Flobots, Scroobius Pip, KRS-One, or crossover beats like Portishead and Massive Attack, something with a message that doesn't include being a thug. Fooling yourself into complacency by rapping about how horrible of a human you can be is just not something I care about, nor is it something my kids should be interested in.

There are some exceptions. I've always been impressed with Eminem, Jay-Z and many of the rappers that came from the 80s. Maybe that's why I like Y.N.RichKids. It reminds me more of that old school sound and cadence, but with more contemporary producing quality.

We need more of this in the mainstream. Where are the record deals for the kid-friendly artists? Sure, the Aquabats have a TV show, but you don't hear them on any mainstream radio. The general public likes controversial. It sells. Meat dresses and naked wrecking ball videos are what sell music to adults that have money.

I haven't bought music in a long, long time. I don't download it illegally either. As I said in a previous post, there is plenty to hear on free radio and public downloads. And as my economic status improves, I'm not adverse to buying a song on iTunes or Google Play if it's something I really like. But album-based consumerism is dying. I'm more likely to find what I want on Pandora or iTunes Radio and then go out and buy it because I want to add it to a collection. And I am adding Y.N.RichKids to that collection.

Aiden is learning trombone, for what reason I still have not worked out. We showed him a video of Mighty Mighty Boss Tones as an example of what that could mean to him as an artist (incidentally, the guy playing trombone in that band is black, like the trombone player included in The Roots touring team). If he wants to try to create something, a recording perhaps, with that instrument, I can work out a hip hop style song on open source software and let him write it himself, using his trombone as a melody.

This is a true implication of what music could be for a family, an expressive channel without the adulthood if needed. Some kids have been through more, and maybe want to express that through song. That is completely fine, as long as the family considers what public performance of such songs can cause, the consequences, both good like support and bad like ridicule, that would occur from such promotion. But include music in your child's life, and do it early. Not just Elmo or nursery rhymes, but real music like Y.N.RichKids, Aquabats, or someone Greasy Kid Stuff plays on their radio show.

Join us as a family enjoying music. As a family.

Jenny McCarthy and Autism

So, I am not a Jenny McCarthy fan. I've never been one, and now that I have a child whom I believe is on the Autism spectrum I like her even less. She's so full of judgement and assumptions about other parents of Autistic children. She doesn't offer support or assistance. She says, either you do things like I did and "cure" your Autistic child, or you're just an attention seeking parent who somehow gets your rocks off by parading around your autistic child and getting people to pity you.

These are older articles, but they give you an idea of where this is coming from: http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2012/06/14/jenny-mccarthy-autism-moms-fall-in-the-the-victim-role-and-they-are-loving-it/

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968100-1,00.html

Really?? REALLY??

I know a LOT of parents who don't see their child as needing a CURE, they don't view their child as being diseased. And to be honest, the average family does NOT have the resources that someone in McCarthy's position does. How many average American families can afford $100,000 a year to send their child to a special school? How many average American families can have their child's stool samples tested at their whim by special labs? The majority of families with special needs children are at the mercy of the insurance company. Evaluation results are passed on to a board of people who then get to decide if they agree or not, having NEVER met your child. I recently went through this with Brooklyn's occupational therapy evaluation. How can you compile my concerns and Brooklyn's delays in a report and expect that a reader of that report will get an accurate view of my child? Especially when I, HER MOTHER, can rarely put Brooklyn into words.

Anyways, there have been suggestions from the scientific and medical community that there is a great chance that McCarthy's son, Evan, never did have Autism at all. That he really had a childhood neurological disorder called Landeau Kleffner Syndrome. See, Evan started having seizures at the age of 2, so severe that he required hospitalization several times. He also showed developmental delays and different when compared to children in his play group. He also had hand flapping and fixation on specific items (all of which would cause a professional to diagnose him as Autistic). However, Landeau Kleffner Syndrome an also result in speech impairment and possible long-term neurological damage. Evan's seizures followed by marked improvement once the seizures are under control are consistent with Landeau Kleffner. There's also the possibility that Evan just had developmental delays and as he got older, and with the right help, he caught up with his peer group.

I'm not going to get into the aspect of whether or not Autism is caused by vaccines, I have my personal beliefs  based on the information I have the research I've done. I encourage you to make your opinions the same way. Research things, and don't take some celebrity opinions, look for credible information.

My issue here is how McCarthy treats parents of Autistic children, that somehow they are inferior to her because they haven't been able to "cure" their child's autism. I don't know that there is a cure for Autism, I know that many people have had success with lessening symptoms through a LOT of therapy and hard work. Some have found success with diet changes and strict routines. I couldn't tell you if McCarthy's son was ever truly Autistic. I know that McCarthy, as a mother, knew something was going on with her child. And she fought to get answers, for that I commend her. But, at what point does that give her the right to judge and belittle other parents of Autistic children?

Brooklyn is not diagnosed as having Autism, will that diagnosis ever come? I have no idea. Right now I've seen a LOT of changes in her by really focusing on her SPD. Could that be it? Could SPD be our one big hurdle? It very well could be. But, I still want an Autism evaluation, that's really the only way to know for sure. I need a specialist, someone knowledgeable in Aspergers Syndrome specifically in girls, to evaluate Brooklyn. I don't have the luxury of McCarthy to throw money here or there to get the answers I need. I can't just go up to OHSU and say "hey guys, here's $4,000+, can we schedule this evaluation now?" I am at the mercy of an insurance company that has no idea who Brooklyn is to decide if/when we'll ever get that evaluation. I have spent since November 2010 asking for help. If back in November 2010 our pediatrician had listened to me and sent us to an OT evaluation then we would have found out 21 months earlier that Brooklyn did in fact have Sensory Processing Disorder. But, because a doctor decided he knew my child better than me, we were forced to wait. I could have avoided putting my 4 year old little girl on medication if only I had been listened to!

It's so frustrating to read the crap that comes out of McCarthy's mouth. It's not how the real world works. And if she cared as much about other families, families she claims to want to help, she wouldn't belittle and judge them every step of the way. We are all just parents doing the best we can to help our children. What we need from each other isn't judgement, its support. I am very thankful that I've been able to find some amazing groups on facebook filled with other parents who are going through what we're going through. They're there to listen to me vent on our bad days, cheer on our good days, and offer advice and support whenever it's needed. That is a lesson that Jenny McCarthy needs to learn.