Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW

Latest Episodes:

Sometimes Si, Sometime No! Jan 06, 2023

Show notes

Today our Song To Chew' is SOMETIMES SI, SOMETIMES NO! from my 'Grow It At Home' album. It's originally from a DVD I made for the Loma Linda University Medical Center in San Bernardino, California. We made a video with my songs and stories to entertain andeducate the families of their patients. Most of their patients are families from local neighborhoods in San Bernardino, that were loaded with violence and drug dealers, gang shootings and bar fights. The kids live with domestic violence and prostitution right there where they live and go to school. We wanted to help families learn some skills to help them cope with what they have to contend with every day. It's difficult to make clear and simple sense out of the complex patterns and experiences we have growing up. This is where our "Sometimes Si, Sometimes No!" philosophy comes in. When we understand that life continually has its ups and downs, it becomes clear that there's no point in 'giving up!' As the song says, "that's the way of life!" The way to a better life is to keep on looking for new solutions! When we keep trying, things change! Doors open and expose us to ideas we would not have seen if we had given up! This is how we build the skills we need to survive difficult times.

~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Poop Goes The Weasel Dec 30, 2022

Show notes

Our SONG TO CHEW this week is POOP GOES THE WEASEL. I wrote it to help parents engage their little kids in the process of getting toilet trained. When I perform this song live, I use a weasel or otter hand puppet to demonstrate as we sing together. Laughing at poop and fart jokes and anything to do with the toilet seems to appeal much more to guys than to girls. We probably think they're funny because we're not supposed to talk about this stuff, but it's mostly grown-ups who made up that rule! Adults are embarrassed and uncomfortable around this subject, but kids seem to love it! Even if little girls think farting is funny, they almost always grow out of it, but boys still think it's a riot even when we get to be old men!! I know this song has had an impact in the world. Lots of parents report that this is their kid's favorite song! I got a cel phone call from an upset Mom in Florida, who called to complain that she had her son and his friend in the car on the way to pre-school, when "Poop Goes The Weasel" came on the radio. The boys laughed so hard that her son wet his pants in the backseat! She had to take them home to get dry clothing, before taking them back to school. She suggested I put a warning on the album to let parents know that this kind of thing may happen in their family too!! Subscribe to my podcast and I’ll see you next week with another ‘Song to Chew’!

~ Listen/subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast anywhere you get podcasts or =

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ My most recent album = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

The Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Santa and God Dec 23, 2022

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From my “Chris Moose Holidays” album, our SONG TO CHEW this week is THE TOOTH FAIRY, EASTER BUNNY, SANTA & GOD. They're all stories that most of us have heard since we were little. Each of them a bit mysterious and none of them willing to simply show themselves, to prove to us that they're real. They require some level of belief. We've seen hints of their existence; a dollar under our pillow, an Easter basket at the end of our bed, or Christmas presents under our tree on Christmas morning, (maybe some cookie crumbs from the cookies and milk we left for Santa on Christmas Eve.) Each of them a source of great expectations and at times, ... the cause of great disappointments. Today, we'll chew on the idea that when a story has some spirit that touches you, ... you can hold it in your heart and make it true. I'm Peter Alsop. Follow this podcast, and I’ll be back next week with another ‘Song to Chew’!

~ Listen/subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast anywhere you get podcasts or =

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ My most recent album = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

No Excuse T’Use Booze Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

Our 'Song To Chew' this week, is NO EXCUSE T'USE BOOZE from my “Stayin' Over” album. There are an estimated 5.3 million kids under the age of 17 in this country who have a serious drinking problem. When I wrote this song, 'Honky Boy Pete' popped into my mind, told he was a 'recovering alcoholic' and he wanted to talk to the kids, if I didn't mind. He explains some of the down-side things that happen when kids and other people drink booze to medicate their painful feelings. One out of four kids in the U.S. currently live in alcoholic homes, and less than one out of ten gets any information about how to cope with pressures that exist in these homes. There aren't simple answers to fix things for these kids, but I know that when kids feel 'loved', they find it easier to like themselves. Unhappy kids who use alcohol to medicate painful feelings, are following examples set by unhappy adults. Most grown-ups admit that drinking "booze" is not a healthy habit, and yet millions of us still choose to drink alcoholic beverages rather than pick up a glass of water. As Honky Boy says, "Sometimes life’s a drag, an’ it’s tough t’be a kid, but you’ll make it fine without drugs an’ booze, lots of other people did!" I’m Peter Alsop. Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back next week with another ‘Song to Chew’. Bye for now!

~ Listen/subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast anywhere you get podcasts or =

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ My most recent album = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

High Standards Dec 09, 2022

Show notes

Our SONG TO CHEW this week, HIGH STANDARDS, was written by my dear friend Bob Blue. This song was part of my conference presentations and part of my personal story. Our parents who love us, want us to do the best we can, but sometimes they forget that kids need time to play and relax and explore our relationships. Getting straight 'A's' in school, doesn't mean we know how to have a happy and meaningful life. This song models how forgiveness and humor can help us heal and find a healthier story than a repeating self-narrative of "I'm never enough." We each deserve to be loved for just being alive, regardless of the 'things' we do. What we do, is NOT who we are. And when we chase 'perfection', we learn to become "human doings" instead of "human beings". When we forgive ourselves, we can begin to move ahead in our lives. I'll see you again next week, with another ‘Song to Chew

~ Listen/subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast =

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ My most recent album = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Let ’Em Laugh Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

This week's 'Song To Chew' is LET 'EM LAUGH from my "Take Me With You!“ album. One of the toughest things we face as humans is being laughed at and 'shunned' or ridiculed by others. Usually, the 'butt of the joke' is someone who appears or acts differently than most people. There's never a good excuse to single someone out for ridicule, especially for differences over which they have no control; like their race or size or their disability or sexual orientation. And sometimes, we're the 'different person'. So when other people do this to us, it says much more about their own fears of being rejected, than it does about us! I wrote this song to model for kids and adults how other people's laughter and teasing can be 'reframed', when we understanding that most of those folks have to look outside of themselves for their sense of self-worth. That's why other people's opinions of them are so important to them. It takes a much stronger 'sense-of-self' to look inside, and NOT follow the crowd, and know that 'who we are, and what we're doing is okay!' I'm so glad you stopped by. I'll be back again next week with another ‘Song to Chew'!

~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or

https://peteralsop.podbean.com or

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

It’s No Fun When Ya Gotta Eat An Onion Nov 27, 2022

Show notes

Our 'Song To Chew' this week is IT'S NO FUN WHEN YA GOTTA EAT AN ONION. Our individual taste differences are tailored by what we learned to eat with our families when we were little. If we associate certain foods with comfort and good times, we look forward to having those experiences of chewing and savoring the taste of foods that reminds us of those pleasant times. It's the stories about our food that set us up for how we behave around our eating habits. We might not like a story about eating "unformed chicken embryos", or "common fungus", or "sour milk solids", so we tell ourselves a much more pleasant story when we sit down to eat our mushroom and cheese omelet, right?! How we felt and how we were treated during our eating times can create the tone of our relationship with our food for the rest of our lives! There are lots of kids who say they don't like vegetables, but when those same kids learn to grow, harvest and taste fresh vegetables right out of their garden, they love eating them! The more we learn to value our different attitudes and stories about our food, the more we can appreciate that our wide range diversities is what makes our lives so full and rich and interesting. I’m Peter Alsop. I’ll see you again next week with another ‘Song to Chew’. Please subscribe or follow this podcast. Let your friends and family know about these little musical life-lessons, and hopefully, they'll thank you for it! Bye for now!

~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or

https://peteralsop.podbean.com or

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Family Of Friends Nov 18, 2022

Show notes

Our Song To Chew this week is FAMILY OF FRIENDS, from my “Uh-Oh!" album. I wrote this song because we each hold a story about our family of origin. Some of us grew up in a family that was warm and safe. Some of us had a family that did not 'feel so safe'. Many of us had a family that was a mix of those two styles. And some of our families were scattered and hard to define, or we had a number of foster families. It's important to have courageous conversations with our family members if we’re upset about something. It's possible to caringly resolve conflicts so they won't continue to be an impediment to our loving each other. But we have to make 'the effort'. We can also form our own 'family of choice' as we get older. We know that when we have safe places and people around us, we develop and grow new skills in this 'full-of-struggle' world where we live. Some people believe that life is a school and we're here because we all have lessons to learn. I like that idea because to have a 'family of friends', we have to work on it, and learn how to do it better, and because we're still learning, if we make a mistake, we can learn how to forgive ourselves and keep on! Please subscribe to this podcast, so you can listen to SONGS TO CHEW any time! Bring your family and friends! I'm Peter Alsop. Bye for now!

~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or

https://peteralsop.podbean.com or

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Let The Woman In You Come Through Nov 11, 2022

Show notes

Our Song To Chew this week is LET THE WOMAN IN YOU COME THROUGH from my “Asleep At The Helm” album. We're trained to perform as others of our birth gender have in the past. Boys and girls are told stories about how we should behave, and those stories guide us as we mature and grow. In fact, there are many other stories that might be 'our story', that are much different than the ones we've been taught. We need freedom to explore our feelings and express our love and attractions if we are to discover our own story. How else can we figure out how to survive in healthy and balanced ways as we live in our changing world?! As boys, we've been taught to not cry or express our feelings, or we will appear weak, "womanish" and less powerful, resulting in us 'losing respect' within our community and family. Our male brains like to define the world in 'black and white' binary terms, so our main defining story has been that we are NOT women! In fact, when boys cry or act in gentle caring ways, we are called "sissies", as though comparing us to someone's sister is the worst insult we could be given! Fortunately, things have been changing. Now I wouldn't say, "Let the woman in you come through", because men can be just as caring and gentle as women, when we make the effort to do so. It can be scary to explore and learn about ourselves as our sexuality and gender unfolds, but if we want to discover who we truly are, we must have the courage to risk facing our fears.

~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or

https://peteralsop.podbean.com or

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Was St. Pat Scared? Nov 04, 2022

Show notes

WAS ST. PAT SCARED? Let's listen to our "Song To Chew" for today and find out! This song's from my “Grow It At Home” album, to help us understand how we humans have taken over most of the world by eliminating any other creatures that threaten us or our expansion. The Irish myth about St. Patrick, 'ridding Ireland of all the snakes' is a wonderful place to start this discussion. It's 'fear' that drives us to completely wipe out some other living species, rather than finding some way to share space with them. Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was a real person who lived in the 5th century. He came to Ireland to proselytize for Christianity. One of the biggest myths in his 'story', is that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea. The fact is that there never were any snakes in Ireland for St. Patrick to banish! The event that banished any snakes that might have been in Ireland, was the Ice Age that ended 10,000 years ago. When children hear this myth, they ask, "Did he have to get rid of ALL the snakes?" The storyline is a familiar one, so let's listen to the song, and we'll 'chew on it', and see if we can figure out some less violent ways to behave when we're afraid, because as the song says, "we can crush all the spiders with books, y'know, but killing them's kind of a crime. Cause all life is sacred!" If we don't recognize that we need to take of this 'Garden of Eden', we don't get to stay! I’m Peter Alsop. Subscribe, listen to the podcast, and I’ll be back next week with another ‘Song to Chew’. Bye for now!

~ Listen and subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = anywhere you get podcasts, or

https://peteralsop.podbean.com or

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsop-s-songs-to-chew/id1446179156

~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1

~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop

~ www.Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos

~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors

~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

Get full access to Peter Alsop’s Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe