It's in her other pair of Genes
I have always gone to great lengths to ensure my daughter fosters her own identity and has her own opinions and develops her own personality.
It has always been very important to give my daughter the critical skills necessary for her to choose, on her own, the things she likes and the activities she takes part in. I have never forced my opinions onto her and I always expose her to everything so that she can learn to discern and make choices that she knows are her own.
This will be the most important lesson I can give my child. It's hard because one doesn't want our children to come to any harm but if they don't bump their heads, how will they learn?
I let her choose her friends, I let her choose her clothes and their colours. I let her choose if we're going to the park or a movie or a restaurant or if we're staying at home. One of the hardest things to not force on my child is my preferences - like my taste in music.
My taste in music is as unique as the next persons - if somewhat eclectic. It tends towards the classical and instrumental but if and when there needs to be lyrics I'll gravitate to the more alternative. I'll choose Prince over Sting, ELO over the Rolling Stones, Beatles over Michael Jackson and Sinead O'Conner over Miley Cyrus.
But when my little six-year-old girl (while watching a re-run of Shrek) piped up and asked:
"Daddy, what's that song, I like it."
I tried to identify this instrumental version and had to skip back once or twice but when it hit me - what the song was - I was aghast and asked her if she was sure this was the tune she liked.
She said: "Yep".
So I downloaded it to iTunes and asked again if this was the song that had stopped her from following the movie to ask me what it was.
She said; "Yep, have you heard this song before Daddy?"
Bwahaha! "Yes my Love, it's one of Daddy's favourites."
Oh, she said; So we can listen to it together then.
And we did, over and over and over as is their way. My heart was silently filled with pride that my little mouse had, unsolicited and without prompting, gravitated to a great and complex classic.
It must be in her genes!
Take a listen to Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah