My youngest daughter and I call ourselves the “Dynamic Duo”. She is fifteen years of age as I write these words. We have managed to achieve a form of personal connection that is built upon a foundation of trust. We have shared many important experiences together and, as such, we have become battle hardened veterans of what life has to offer and what it can throw your way. For example, when my mother fell under the spell of dementia and was forced to move to a nursing home, it was Sophie who accompanied me to Nova Scotia to clear out her apartment and deal with her possessions. *(You can read about that experience here). When I decided it was time to start a new Christmas tradition in my neighbourhood of delivering cards and gifts to all of the people on our street, it was Sophie who came along for the ride and has assumed responsibility for creating each year’s MacInnes Family gift. *(You can read about that here). Last, but certainly not least, it has been Sophie who took it upon herself to learn the art of preparing French cuisine. While she doesn’t often require help with her recipes, on those odd times when she does, she calls for me and we end up making something delicious as a duo. *(You can read about how Sophie views the world with an artist’s eye here). I am lucky to have equally impactful relationships with the other members of my family, too. But for the sake of this post, it is all about Sophie.
While we may be the “Dynamic Duo” in many regards, we also have our differences. For instance, Sophie doesn’t read any of my blog posts. She finds it exhausting to be a teenage girl in a world where so much is expected of young women. To come home from her day in the social milieu that is school and then be forced to read a lengthy ramble about some song she has never listened to by a band or an artist who released the song before she was even born, is all too much to ask. So, for the most part, she chooses to ignore this segment of my world. But every now and again, we will find ourselves sharing personal moments that revolve around music. These times are few and far between so when they happen, it is like finding money in your coat pocket that you had forgotten was ever there. One such moment happened just the other day and forms the basis of today’s song selection. This is the story of how the song “Like It’s Christmas” by The Jonas Brothers came to be a song that is sung at home by those I love.
One week ago today, my wife and I and Sophie traveled to Toronto to pick up my eldest daughter from the airport. Leah was returning home for the holidays after having completed her first semester at university in Nova Scotia. The volume of traffic across the top of Toronto has been growing exponentially larger in recent years, making the once breezy journey much more of a slog today. Needless to say, by the time we had gotten there, picked up our first loved and managed to make it back home again, almost six hours had elapsed and we were all knackered. As we sat together in our living room around the Christmas tree, munching on fast food we had picked up along the way, my wife started singing a snippet of a Christmas song that was floating around in her head. The problem with that is that my wife only ever knows snippets of songs and never the whole song. The snippet she happened to be singing was unknown to the rest of us so Sophie challenged my wife to prove that what she was singing was actually a holiday song and not something that she had mashed up together in her mind. One thing led to another and thanks to “Dr. Google” we discovered the song my wife was singing snippets of was, in fact, a current Christmas hit called “Merry Christmas” by Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John. ***Fun Fact: the video for this song is a tribute to the movie Love Actually. You can watch that video here. Anyway, the revelation that my wife’s tune was a real song from modern times caused my daughters to start talking about their favourite current holiday songs. Sophie chimed in right away that she really enjoyed “Like It’s Christmas” by The Jonas Brothers. Her sister turned to me and suggested that I make that song a holiday post. So here we are. You are now up to date on the story as it exists.
This is not the first time that The Jonas Brothers have been the feature of one of my music posts. Way back in the early days of my music blogging career, I began a series called The Top 500 Songs in Modern Music History. This series was a countdown of the biggest and most noteworthy songs in music history. Needless to say, there were many songs by the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Queen and other artists and bands whose heydays were in the 1960s-80s. As this series rolled out, my song posts were met with an enthusiastic reaction from my friends who, for the most part, are the same age or slightly older than me. Sophie infamously sneered that she was not interested in my music posts because it was simply “old music for old people”. At that point, I challenged her (and her sister) to come up with their own list of ten current songs that they each felt were deserving of the spotlight. Each girl cobbled together a list that reflected their own individual interests and tastes. The first song on Sophie’s list was “Sucker” by The Jonas Brothers. *(You can read that post here. It provides good background detail on the early stages of their career and why they would appeal to a tween, at the time, such as Sophie).
Four years have passed since I first mentioned The Jonas Brothers in this blog space. My daughter has grown up a lot since then and is turning out to be a wonderful young woman with much more experience about how the world works for girls. Not surprisingly, her interest in boys is one facet of her growth that continues to evolve. Though this remains a work in progress, one constant in it all has been The Jonas Brothers. Nick, Kevin and Joe Jonas grew up before the eyes of the world as members of the Disney entertainment stable of young stars alongside the likes of Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato. They are now young men out in the world. They have all married. They all devote much of their time and financial clout to charitable causes that help those most in need. They are charismatic performers and talented singers. From what I can tell, they seem incredibly grounded for having experienced life in the public eye like they have. And through it all, Sophie has maintained an admiration for their music and for the brothers as people. As a dad, it pleases me that she has picked such seemingly good young men to be drawn toward. The song “Like It’s Christmas” is one of four holiday songs that The Jonas Brothers have released over the years. This particular song deals, not so much with Christmas itself but rather, with the joyous, charitable nature of how people tend to interact with each other during the holidays. “Like It’s Christmas” asks the question as to why can’t we be like that all throughout the year? It also suggests that if we did treat everyone everyday like it’s Christmas, our world would be a happier, more peaceful and kind place to be. I am all for positive messages from positive role models so I wholeheartedly endorse Sophie’s selection of “Like It’s Christmas” by The Jonas Brothers as being worthy of having a place in this year’s musical holiday series.
I know that I am biased but I have to say that I am proud of both of my daughters and how uniquely talented they both have turned out to be. Each girl is blazing her own trail in the world and is making a difference in the lives of others simply by being herself. I treasure every second I get to spend with them, sharing the world and all that it has to offer. I also appreciate how I am continuing to learn and grow because of them and how they view life. While Sophie may not share my love of music and writing, my eldest daughter Leah does. I know I can always count on her supportive and honest feedback on my work. I appreciate that very much. As for Sophie, those interests and experiences we share are ones that we share strongly. Trust and mutual respect are key elements of our relationship. I value them as much as I value anything I have in life. And as this post makes clear, every once and a while, even those things that we may disagree on or be disinterested in, come together in unexpected ways at the intersection of our shared experiences. One such example is how “Like It’s Christmas” by The Jonas Brothers came to be today’s post.
I hope that you enjoyed Sophie’s holiday song selection. Are there any modern holiday songs that you are particularly drawn to? If so, let me know in the comments below. We all learn and grow by sharing so feel free to supply me with more fodder for future holiday-themed posts. For now, thank you for reading my words and for lending your presence to my blog. It is appreciated. Enjoy your day. See you next time when I have a new Christmas story to be shared by the fire. Until then, bye for now.
The link to the video for “Like It’s Christmas” by The Jonas Brothers can be found here. ***The lyrics version is here.
The link to the official website for The Jonas Brothers can be found here.
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