Last week as I was driving to work I glanced in my rearview mirror and gave a little yelp. My heart skipped and my brow sweat. There in the backseat of my Swagger Wagon was my daughter’s raincoat, draped over her booster seat instead of covering her little body on one of the rainiest days at camp. The horror, right? Yeah. Actually, I realized immediately the girl was just going to have to get wet.
But think how dramatic that moment could have been if only a high def camera had zoomed in really close to my face in that moment of awareness, while the first notes of Kelly Clarkson‘s “Because of You” began to surge. Then, the camera would cut away to a shot of my neglected little 7-year old sitting on a soaked bench all alone, in front of a fantastically foggy backdrop. One fat tear would begin to roll down her cheek as Kelly’s first lyrics echoed throughout the park… I will not make / the same mistakes you did.
Yes! That is some drama to kick off the day.
Doesn’t life just deserve a soundtrack?
I get a hankering for musical accompaniment when a moment is either so emotional that it clearly needs that extra oomph or is so underwhelming that is practically begs for some pizzazz. So basically, I need a soundtrack for my whole day. And here’s how it would probably sound.
7:00 AM. Prepping for work. This day is mine. I can do this day!
Girl on Fire, Alicia Keys
Looks like a girl but she’s a flame / So bright, she can burn your eyes / Better look the other way
10:15 AM. The day isn’t going as planned. Too many deadlines. Forgot my lunch.
Shake It Off, Taylor Swift
But I keep cruising / Can’t stop, won’t stop moving / It’s like I got this music in my mind / saying it’s gonna be alright
4:00 PM. Brain is DONE. Going to be late for Jazzercise. Always late for everything. Hair is frizzed. Lip gloss is long gone. Exhausted.
Big Girls Don’t Cry, Fergie
The path that I’m walking I must go alone / I must take the baby steps ’til I’m full grown, full grown / Fairytales don’t always have a happy ending, do they?
5:35 PM. Worked out. What was I thinking earlier? I rock!
F**kin’ Perfect, P!nk
You’re so mean / when you talk about yourself / You were wrong / Change the voices in your head / Make them like you instead
5:45 PM. Walk in the door. House is a mess. Kids are whining for dinner. And hitting each other. Lots of hitting.
Walking Dead Theme
Dun dun dun dun dunnn / dun dun dun dun dunnnn
6:00 PM. Kids are looking at me with misty puppy eyes. Some words are exchanged. Seems like they didn’t mean to upset me.
Trouble, Coldplay
And I never meant to cause you trouble / I never meant to do you wrong / And, ah, well, if I ever caused you trouble / Oh, no I never meant to do you harm
6:05 PM. Haven’t seen them all day, how could I have been so impatient? My babies, they’re my babies!
Home, Phillip Phillips
Settle down, it’ll all be clear / Don’t pay no mind to the demons / They will fill you with fear / The trouble, it might drag you down / If you get lost, you can always be found / Just know you’re not alone / Cause I’m gonna make this place your home
9:00 PM. Kids are in bed. Repeat: kids are in bed. Netflix and ice cream, stat.
Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Cyndi Lauper
When the working day is done / Girls – they want to have fun / Oh girls just want to have fun
11:00 PM. It’s 11:00? How is it 11:00. So. Tired. So much I could have done differently today. Tomorrow’s a new day.
Be Not So Fearful, A.C. Newman
Be not so sorry for what you’ve done / You must forget them now, it’s done / And when you wake up you will find that you can run / Be not so sorry for what you’ve done