Punk Rock dad

There are a lot of fears a father feels: am I a positive influence; do I let my daughter watch too much TV; does my daughter eat enough vegetables?

But I have been feeling a little guilty about something recently.

Reese likes listening to punk rock music.

When we get in the car and I pop in a CD, chances are it's NoFX, Pennywise, Dropkick Murphys or some other kickass group I like to shout along with and/or car dance to. And I can peek in the rear view mirror and see Reese is enjoying it as well.

Punk rock music has made a big impression on me, but it didn't really enter my music rotation until high school and then really took over in college. Punk rock has an overriding message of: Question authority, do it yourself!

While that is a perfectly reasonable and expected attitude for teenagers and/or young adults standing on their own two feet for the first time (figuratively), it is problematic for a toddler learning to stand on their own two feet (literally).

I want Reese to be an individual and believe in herself and question authority, but not now. Not when I am her authority. She should wait at least until preschool. Don't rebel when you still need someone to change your diapers. It could get messy (figuratively AND literally).

There is nothing inherently bad or wrong with Reese bopping around to beats and guitar riffs by Social Distortion or Bouncing Souls or the Vandals, but she may be a little too young to subscribe to the ideas in the lyrics. Do I really want Reese to point at someone in the grocery store and ask, "Daddy, does he have an Ape Drape?" Um...yeah, I guess I'd be OK with that one, but there other questions I probably would not want.

Reese does pick up and understand everything Amy and I say (if it isn't everything, it sure is the majority of what we say). But can she hear and understand what Fat Mike or Mike Ness or Tim Armstrong belt out? Sometimes I need to look up the lyrics to understand them.

It won't be too long until Reese looks at Rancid, Voodoo Glow Skulls and Bad Religion like I look at Elvis, the Rolling Stones and the Who - bands who once considered controversial but I now view as tame.

But no matter what type of music Reese listens to (or shows she watches or friends she hangs out with), she needs to know and understand that I am her parent, an authority she is not allowed to defy.

At least until she's old enough to change her own diapers.