Name Your Tune

My daughter has had the same CD in her player since November (this is July, so that's a pretty long time). We have played other CD's, but at bedtime, she always wants her CD of Christmas music. (It's funny because when she makes up a song it's always to the tune of a Christmas favorite. I think she memorized the melodies in her sleep. I should swap it out with Italian or something Mensa-worthy or see if she can learn her Latin roots by osmosis!)

But not anymore. She has a new favorite, which I'll tell you about in a minute, but bear with me for another anecdote.

When she was a baby, a family member gave us a personalized CD that inserted her name into the songs about 700,000 times. It was obviously done on a computer because when her name was included within a song, it was in a deep voice. It totally creeps me out. I think we listened to it twice. Oh, I'm cringing just remembering it.

When I came across the Name Your Tune CD, I was intrigued because of their commitment to the environment:

• CD Packaging: new digipack is environmentally friendly and made out of recyclable resources using vegetable based ink and water-based coating.
• Plastic Ain't My Bag: shipping packaging is also fully recycled and fully recyclable. They have partnered with "We Are What We Do" in support of their new "Plastic Ain't My Bag" campaign.
  
• Zero Footprint Shipping: the Zerofootprint Seal on the envelope confirms that they have offset the carbon footprint resulting from shipping your Name Your Tune CDs.

Name Your Tune personalized CD's feature 14 familiar children's songs that include the child's name over 80 times. You can even include more than one child's name (our CD uses both of our children and they alternate songs). The CD includes a personal message (like "Welcome to the World Jack" or "Happy First Birthday Jill.")

What's more they have a library of over 3,000 names to choose from! You can spell it however you want on the CD label. (For instance you may spell your daughter's name "Hayleigh," but pronounce it "Hayley."). I was skeptical that my children's names would be available. They are not unusual names, but they are not common: we'll never find personalized license plates for their bikes at the toy store. They have names from Aahna to Zoya and even four names that start with "X." And I was thrilled that they had both of ours.

So I received the CD in the environmentally friendly packaging and popped the CD printed with soy inks into my daughter's CD player. I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop because the CD was too good to be true.

But guess what? It is fantastic! My daughter wants to hear it every time we get in the car and even at bedtime (instead of Christmas music!). She cheers on her baby brother when a song featuring his name comes on. She claps in delight when it is a song about her.

And I don't know how they do it, but the children's names are incorporated seamlessly. It sounds as if the four recording artists sang each song for each of the 3,000 names they offer. It does not sound computer generated. My daughter thinks they are singing for her.

I'm still amazed each time we listen to it!

If their environmental efforts aren't enough for you, a portion from the sales of Name Your Tune CDs is donated to Hear Here, a non-profit charitable foundation that purchases hearing aids for children.

Name Your Tune CD's sell for $20 ($18 if you purchase 2 or more). They also sell other personalized gifts.

Here's a great discount for The Full Mommy readers: use coupon code NNHOL2005 for $5 off your Name Your Tune order.

(This was written by Leeanthro who can be read at Soy is the New Black where she dishes about family, food, foraging, and frivolity. While many of the products she discusses are sold only through boutique or specialty stores, some are widely available at national stores and online.)