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Dan Zanes has lots of friends onstage and off (photo by Mimi Choi)

“I think Dane Zans is having a snack with his friends.” Until Oliver saw Dan Zanes perform, he had difficulty remembering his name. We think he kept thinking about our cat, Zane.

We were at the Music Hall in Toronto for Oliver’s first ever concert: Dan Zanes and Friends. But to his puzzlement, there was no one on stage yet.

Dan Zanes with some band members: they've had their energy boosters.

I didn’t give children’s music much thought before Oliver was born, aside from nursery rhymes and songs associated with Sesame Street. After his birth, I became aware of a sentiment among other parents that music intended for kids was often sugary, mind-numbing and irritating to adults. I would say, though, that I haven’t experienced it in that way. Maybe I have a higher tolerance level for music others find mindless. We’ve been cautious about what we’ve exposed Oliver to and he also demonstrated some unexpected tastes.

F or many years it’s been a common belief that playing classical music for your children will somehow make them smarter. We’ve got a stack of jewel cases by the stereo plastered with ecstatic baby faces all making this claim. Not one of these CDs offers any sort of actual scientific explanation as to why this is true, but for some reason, it seems to be an accepted fact that cranking the classical will help make your child a certified baby genius.

A s a new mother, I’m learning to deal with the daily demands of parenthood (feeding, changing, soothing, etc.) amongst a constant background of sleep deprivation, bad hair, sour-milky shirts and a low-grade feeling of guilt. There seems to always be something I could have done more, better, or faster for the baby, and my failure to do so is terrifying in its permanent implications on his physical and psychological development.

F or those of us staying in town over the holidays, there may be a point when shopping and other forms of revelry begin to pall or are just too overwhelming on the pocketbook and other appendages. And besides, I’d prefer not to lose sight of Oliver in the sea of shopping bags or Christmas ornaments that have begun to take his fancy.