On public radio news this morning there was discussion of whether parents should be held responsible for their children's criminal activities.  We don't get a written manual on becoming a parent.
Today on Folk Plus I focused on parenting skills visited in song.

First in honor of Pete Seeger's 80th

1.  Reuben James  (Woody Guthrie)    Kingston Trio
      Close Up    Capital Records
      Pete sang this in the 40's together with its author in The Almanac Singers

2.   Go where I Send Thee    Weavers
      Live From Carnegie Hall  Vanguard Recording Society
      Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman

3.   What  Shall We do with the School of Torture  Christine Rickman
       Sing it Down  203 Bassett St Syracuse NY 13210
      On closing down the School of the Americas.*  (Pete  loves a good sing along)
      (*This year's focus of the People's Music Network gathering often attended by Pete)

4.  Leftwing Wife    - Peggy Seeger
     Odd Collection  - Rounder
      My husband is out with the "exploited and the needy"

On to parenting

5.  The TV Way  (Bill Harley)  Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer
    Changing Channels  www.rounder.com
     "Dad why did you tell me THAT story?
     I think you have been watching too much television"

6.  Etch a Sketch  Michael McNevin
     Sketch  1 800 BUYMYCDS  mmcnevin@aol.com
     "don't let television run your kids"

7.  Love Takes a Whole Box of Crayons  John Flynn
     Love Takes a Whole Box of Crayons  POBox 213 Drexel Hill PA 19026
     What color is love?

8.  Coloring Outside the Lines    Sandy Ross sandy@primenet.com
      Coloring Outside the Lines  www.primenet.com/~sandyr
     "Don't care if an evergreen has never been tangerine"

9.  Baby Rocking Medley   Rosalie Sorrels
     Mahitabel's Theme
     "That kid has not quit crying now for 6 hours....and you forgot to get milk"

10.  A Father's Lullabye   Richard Berman
      Bittersweet    Aries Rec. rlberman@amherst.edu
      "The door is open, the light'll stay on, I'll check on you later"
 

11.  Mindso    Kevin Woodward
       Free    1691 Garnet Rd.  Victoria BC Canada
       "Maybe more of the responsibility for the troubles in our world rests with me, a parent"
       "Oh what did we put in their minds o "

On his album Kevin thanks his mom for making him practice accordian and set the stove timer..
He thanks his dad for hooking up the vacuum to the pump organ and for the Limelighters record.

12.  Stay on the Sunny Side of Life  The Limelighters
       Through Children's Eyes
       ..complete with riddles...."What two things do your nose and feet do alike....."

And most recently the lead singer for the Limelighters, our area singer,

13.  I Think Your're Wonderful  Red Grammer
       Teaching Peace (Parents Choice 'classic' Award Winner!)
       Red Note Records   5049 Orangeport Rd Brewerton, NY 13029
       "It makes me wanna say the same thing to somebody new"

14   Use a Word     Red Grammer
        Teaching Peace   (above)
        "We can work it out thats what words were invented for"

Other Classic Kids CD's that parents would enjoy

15.  Mine!  Trout Fishing in America
       Mine!  ptfia@aol.com
       "I saw it first, I had it last, ..."

16.   Share It.    Rosenshontz   1 800 229 STORY
        Greatest Hits Lightyear Ent 350 5th Ave 10118
         "what you give you get back again....feel good about yourself"

17.  Don't Bring it Home   Rosenshontz
       It's The Truth  LightYear Records
       On being able to say NO to your kids

18.  Everybody's Doing It  - Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer
       A Parent's Home Companion - Rounder
       "If everybody jumped of a bridge would you? ...
         I'm still your mother and don't you dare"

19.  Grandma's Song  - Susan McKeown, Cathie Ryan, Robin Spielberg
        Mother  info@northstarmusic.com
       "to sing...that''s the greatest gift that grandma gave to me"

20.  Radio   Chuck Brodsky
       Radio   Red House Records
       "wasn't nothing but a little love and attention "

21   Sam         Bridget Ball
       Bricks and Windows   POBox 609 Averill Park, NY 12018
       "Some neighborhood kid got caught in the crossfire"
       "After 12 and a half years of life in the real world, he knows that his TV tells lies"

22.  If It Were Up to Me    Cheryl Wheeler
        Sylvia Hotel  Philo
        "...I'd take away the guns"

23.  Slips Through the Crack    Bird Sisters
       Different Stories   POBox 433 Guelph Ontario N1H6K5
       "What are you doing, daddy's children"

24.  Arthur vs. the Piano   (Ken Scarborouh) Michael Yarmush
       Arthur and Friends The First Almost Real Not Live CD  Rounder
       A fun peice that thanks all the parents who forced their kids to practice.

25   VT and Me     Carol Elliott
       The People I Meet   Heartsong
        "summer of sweet 16 our parents sent us to France"

26.   Unsung Hero     Helen Lewis Moore
         Whever the Music Plays   7118 Peach Ct Brentwood TN 37027
         "She can't undo what's been done, all she can do is rock him"
          "She carries the gift of love"

26   Arkansas Traveler     Michelle Shocked
       Arkansas Traveler       Mercury
        "Say Farmer, lived here all your life?"  "Not yet"

*******************************************************************

Next week, an interview with Cliff Eberhardt