This post is brought to you by CJ Affiliate’s VIP Content Service. While this was a sponsored opportunity from Sonos, all content and opinions expressed here are my own.
It’s easy to spend time with your kids when they’re little. They are fully dependent on you and love being their precious Mama/Mommy or Papa/Daddy. That dynamic changes as they get into their teen years, though. All of a sudden they are “too old” for most of the things you used to enjoy together. They have their own interests and ideas, which is great. But, often times, those might conflict with yours and the communication breakdown begins. That’s why it has been so important to me to find common ground in trying to bond with my daughter.
One way I do this is by listening to the music she likes. That might sound like a little thing but, as you probably recall from your own youth, music plays a huge role in the lives of teens. It’s what they listen to while doing homework, what they talk about with friends, what they relate to, and what lifts, soothes, or validates their mood. So it makes sense that showing interest in your teen’s music can draw you closer together.
The K-Pop Surprise
Since Frans and I played a variety of musical genres for my daughter since she was young, Munchkin likes most types of music. For a while, she was even into country music. Her latest fascination, though, is in K-pop (Korean pop). Now, none of us speak Korean so this was an interesting turn of events. We knew a couple of her friends liked it but didn’t think it would appeal to her. Well, we were wrong. For the past several months, Munchkin has been accumulating quite a collection of K-pop songs. These include rap, dance, rock, hip-hop and, well, pop songs. Which K-pop songs does she like most? The ones that are fast and have a heavy beat. This song, “Whistle,” by BLACKPINK is a perfect example of this. (Try to ignore their skimpy outfits though.)
For a while, she was only listening to K-pop songs on her headphones. That was fine occasionally but having a teen with headphones on 24/7 is not the most conducive to healthy parent-child bonding. Apparently, though, Munchkin didn’t think I would want to hear her music since it was in Korean. I told her that wasn’t the case and encouraged her to play her songs on our new home sound system.
Giving K-Pop Songs a Chance
Wow! I was shocked by the variety of K-pop songs she chose. They basically sounded like tracks I would pick to listen to but in Korean. The music was really good with strong vocals and catchy hooks. I had no idea it would sound like that, especially since her friend prefers the super sugary fluffy stuff with high, girly voices. The only thing I could think of was, man, my girl has some style! Since then, her K-pop songs are blasting on the Sonos One in our living room on almost a daily basis. Munchkin loves the message in “Not Today” by BTS. Is it just me or do their voices totally not match what they look like?!
How the Sonos One Leveled Up Our Bonding Time
Why do I mention the Sonos One smart speaker? That is because, before this, Munchkin would only play her music for us periodically. But, once we set up the Sonos One, it became more of a regular occurrence. It’s so easy to pull up her custom K-pop playlists on Apple Music through the Sonos app (just one of 80 music services) or to create new ones on the app itself for the whole family to access. Plus, since we connect to the Sonos One via Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth, songs start up faster and we have uninterrupted connectivity. It’s so irritating when you’re deeply vested in a song and another paired device unintentionally takes over control of the speaker.
Setup was simple and we only needed to calibrate the Sonos One once using Trueplay, a room-tuning feature in the Sonos app (must re-calibrate when you move the speaker to another location). Then, we tweaked the settings by turning off “loudness” and adjusting the treble and bass. Now the Sonos One speakers play the music just right. It not only handles the K-pop well but all the other genres I mentioned above sound good. Munchkin still likes all kinds of music and often switches language and genre depending on her mood. If we’re really feeling the song, we just need to say “Alexa, turn it up!” Check out this hip song called Camo by BoA.
Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you that Sonos One has Amazon Alexa built in. That means you can enjoy all the voice-activated features that make the Alexa so convenient to use. These include requesting new K-pop songs to listen to, asking for news, checking traffic, and more. We can also control other smart devices around our home like the Philips Hue lights or the Dyson Pure Hot+Cool in our Living Room with just a voice command. If you are concerned with privacy and don’t want Alexa to listen to you 24/7, you can turn the microphone off. Then, you can either swipe the Sonos One or use the app to control the volume and music selection.
Using Music to Bridge Generations & Encourage Close Family Ties
When it comes to our family, music plays a huge role. It allows us to dance together, sing together, be silly together, and have tons of great times together. Of course, this is only if we let our daughter be the resident DJ from time to time. She appreciates the personal interest we show in her and we get to enjoy more quality time as a family. It’s win-win. Never would I have imagined that a smart speaker like the Sonos One (learn more about it here) and K-pop would have such a huge impact on us.
