Maura loves music. She loves to listen to it, sing along with it, dance to it, pretend to drum along with it. She can connect to it quickly, which for Maura, is something else.
Now, I am proud to state that Maura has good taste in music. Oh, she’d tolerate the Wiggles and Laura Berkner (is that her name? ) She thought they were fun enough. But she’s left those kiddie singers long behind. In the car I’ve caught her singing along to Jason Mraz, Cheap Trick (“I Want You to Want Me”, lol!), Colbie Caillat, Sugarland, and of course, her first band crush Great Big Sea.
Great Big Sea is a band out of Newfoundland – they’re a mix of traditional/Celtic/Newfie/rock. My friend Bodi was the first one who told me to check them out. As Bodi hadn’t steered me wrong yet on music, I went out and bought their Great Big CD and DVD combo. She was right (of course), I did like them.
Maura was almost three years old at the time. One day, I decided to watch the DVD on my computer. Maura came over, climbed up on my lap, stuck her thumb in her mouth and sat there, watching the guys play. I was impressed. I’d never seen Maura so enthralled by something…well, other than food. I didn’t realize though how much she took in until a couple of days later. We were in the car, I had the CD on, and suddenly I realized she was clapping along, raising her hands like the audience did while yelling “Hey!”, just like on the DVD. At a time in her life where something like that would take weeks for her to learn (seriously, Ring Around the Rosie took her a good year of watching to figure out), Maura picked up this in days. She also quickly learned to sort of sing along with one of the songs. Again, this was a child who could barely talk, but there she was singing “Oh me, oh my”. I’ll admit, my reaction was sort of “Holy Crap!”
Maura, age 3, watching the Great Big DVD
Something about the band reached her, and I loved their music as well. The other kids also got into it. Needless to say, we became big fans around here.
Of course, the fact that she enjoyed drinking songs caused a couple of problems. Like when she was about to start preschool…it was a preschool class for developmentally delayed children, so the parent meeting was an intimate gathering (four parents.) The teacher asked one parent if her child enjoyed music. The parent said “Oh yes! We sing the ABC’s all the time!” Another parent chimed in. “Oh, we do to! We also love the “Wheels on the Bus” song too!” The teacher then turned to me and asked “Does Maura like music?”
“Oh yes!” I said. “She actually has a favorite band. They’re called Great Big Sea, they’re out of Newfoundland…her favorite song is “The Old Black Rum”…so…um…if she should happen to say “rum”, that’s why. But it’s a traditional Irish song….” Okay, it’s not. But I realized the other parents were eyeing me funny and it was probably not the best introduction of our family life to the teacher. Luckily, the teacher was very cool about it.
Maura at her first Great Big Sea concert
We’ve been to two of their concerts so far. The first was when she was almost four. The look on her face when they came out on stage was priceless. I think it took the first song for her to realize that yes, they were live in front of her and not on the tv. The entire concert, while they played, she sat on my hip, thumb in mouth, watching them intently. In-between songs, she’d clap along with the rest of the audience, and then stop, stick her thumb back in and start watching again. She was adorable in the little concert tee I found in her size. The people around us were great too, one giving her a little flag of Newfoundland, another offering to hold her for a bit. Two teen-aged girls snuck down to the front by us and were dancing with her (until security made them go back to their seats, lol!) And the band was cool to her too. Bob got down to her level and played to her. Alan came across to give her his guitar pick. All in all, it was a great night.
The next time they came into town, we went as a family, you know, so we could overwhelm more kids at a time. And now, they’re going to be back in town. I have front row seats for Maura and I and a friend. I can’t wait! They’re a great live band, it’s always fun, and they have the best audience who think nothing of me bringing a child or four along.
Now, at this point, you may be wondering where the title of this post comes in. “Sea of No Cares” is a title track to one of their albums. The song itself is about dating, falling in love, not caring about what others think. But for us, just the phrase “sea of no cares” really sums up Maura in a way. In a way, she has no cares. All is good in her world. She’s a happy little goldfish swimming in a sea of no cares. When you have a child like Maura, you tend to worry about how they are, what they’ll be. But eventually, for me, I realized that Maura was happy. She had no real reason not to be happy. Her world is good. And this song reminds me of that when I need a reminder.
Sea of No Cares – Great Big Sea
