Since leaving my corporate cube to stay home with the 4 year old, hours each day, are spent in the kitchen. Preparing and eating breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinners make up a big chunk of the day. And while I’m in the kitchen, the radio is nearly always on.
Sometime, I like having it on for just background noise but most of the time, I do listen. I flip between two local Seattle stations; KEXP and KUOW so I can “rock” when feel the itch or catch up on the news of the day. We don’t watch TV news and only receive a newspaper on Sunday so during the week, the radio is a main source of information about the outside world.
That is definitely not the ideal but it does present some interesting perspective. Last summer, I listened to (parts of) both the Democratic and Republican conventions via the radio. And I listened to both presidential debates by radio. Made me recall reading about the Nixon vs Kennedy first TV debate where those who listened to the radio picked Tricky Dickie as the winner but those who watched on TV favored Kennedy. Radio news does seem to give a different ‘experience’ versus watching cable news. Definitely less ego, shouting and showmanship
One of the advantages of listening to the radio so much, that I didn’t realize before having a toddler in the house, is the educational benefit for a child. Even when it appears he isn’t listening, he absorbs so many new words every single day. And often this expanded vocabulary revels itself in questions. “What is..?”
Just in the past few days I’ve heard, “what is….
- Tide
- Gravity
- weather
- Spring
- shadow
These questions present excellent opportunities for us to chat about their meaning and how they relate to our lives. “Weather” is a good example, since we talk about it often, in the day or two before we go skiing at Stevens Pass.
But the downside of hearing all these new words is trying to explain the tough ones. How do you explain:
- Falling Interest Rates
- Is hydraulic fracturing safe
- Sequester
- John Boehner
- The Iron Lady
With the political terms, I try very hard to deliver a neutral explanation but it isn’t always easy. Today, Margaret Thatcher died and after living and studying in Northern England during her “reign”, the first thing that popped into my mind was Mr. Costello’s song “Tramp the dirt down”. Maggie wasn’t not very popular around Leeds Uni.
But instead of sharing stories with Will about how the majority of my English classmates loathed her, I keep the answer simple enough for a 4 year to understand.
