by Laura Falin posted in Life

When my husband brought home an ancient record player he found at a thrift store last year, I rolled my eyes. We are not skinny-jean-wearing, man-bun-loving hipsters. Actually, my husband has very little hair at all but we do not speak of this. I thought this vinyl business was a passing interest that he'd have for a week or two and then we'd all move on and I'd have to find somewhere to put this piece of junk.
But the kids were intrigued. They were fascinated by everything that went into actually playing music. It wasn't just a push of an on-screen button. There was work involved - finding the records, putting them on the turntable, placing the arm and the needle on the vinyl, hitting play, adjusting an actual knob that turned. It was a whole process, and they began to clamor to pick the music at dinnertime.
Going back to vinyl record albums also broadened our listening repertoire. If I download music for us, it's usually kids' songs or current music. Even satellite radio stations from different decades tend to focus on only the most popular songs of the time.  But the record player inspired us to branch out. My parents heard we had a player and sent the records they collected as newlyweds - groups like The Supremes and Simon and Garfunkel. They gave us records of classical music beyond what you hear on the radio. We bought records at thrift stores as well, which weren't exactly recent. We found early Elton John and Stevie Wonder. Michae...