"Don't Just Stand There, Bust A Move"

My toddler son will jiggle a leg or bob his head to just about any beat or sound, even a commercial selling dishwasher detergent or carpets as long as the commercial has a catchy tune. Busting into a dance off with my son is an activity that keeps us occupied on any rainy, snowy or even sunny day when we just need to burn off some energy. My son absolutely loves dancing with mom and dad and ignites with excitement and laughter when mom or dad pump up the music and showcase the dance skills we picked up years ago at a fraternity party or worse, a high school dance. He does not care if his parents can’t dance, he only cares that we try and dance with him.

Although not a huge hassle, we don’t always take the time to put in a CD (who uses CD’s anymore anyway) or plug in our laptop to the stereo system to play songs from our iTunes library, instead we have found the music channels available on our TV to do the trick. With my cox cable, these channels are in the 400s and range anywhere from party favorites (some oldies, but goodies) to country, to R&B, to rap to dance music. There are children’s channels and every decade from the 50’s to today are represented. You might even find some of your old favorites on these channels that help you reflect on your high school, big hair days. It is so easy to go to one of these channels and to start our dance off. Another recommendation is the Palladia channel (http://www.palladia.tv/) if you have it. This channel shows live concerts all day long so not only do you hear the music, you see the artists as well. My son enjoys watching the performers every once in awhile as well. Although I think he prefers to just watch himself in the mirror or to watch mom and dad make fools of themselves.

Next time your kids feel like “getting’ jiggy with it”, encourage their behavior and join in. Don’t wait for a rainy day or a time when your kids are bored, instead make dancing together a regular routine to burn off energy, get some exercise and simply to be silly together.