Top 40 Songs of 2012 (if you have kids)

It's New Year's Eve and once again iTunes has helped me compile my family's forty most played songs of the year. (Um... can you tell we have five kids under the age of ten?)

1. Locked Out of Heaven (Bruno Mars)

2. It Will Rain (Bruno Mars)

3. We Are Young (Fun feat. Janelle Monáe)           

4. Eyes Open (Taylor Swift)

5. Call Me Maybe (Carly Rae Jepsen)

6. Ours (Taylor Swift)

7. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (Taylor Swift)

8. Payphone (Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa)

9. Boyfriend (Justin Bieber)

10. Rumour Has It (Adele)

11. Moves Like Jagger (Maroon 5)

12. Harder to Breathe (Maroon 5)

13. Shake It Up (Selena Gomez)

14. Baby (Justin Bieber & Ludacris)

15. Mean (Taylor Swift)

16. Sparks Fly (Taylor Swift)

17. Billionaire (Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars)

18. California Gurls (Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg)

19. Back To December (Taylor Swift)

20. On the Floor (Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull)

21. Kissin U (Miranda Cosgrove)

22. Some Nights (Fun)

23. Makes Me Wonder (Maroon 5)

24. Good Time (Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen)

25. You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift)

26. Who Says (Selena Gomez & The Scene)

27. Firework (Katy Perry)

28. Fearless (Taylor Swift)

29. One More Night (Maroon 5)

30. Volcano (Jimmy Buffett)

31. Start Again (Counting Crows)

32. Love Story (Taylor Swift)

33. Kookie Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb (Edd Byrnes)

34. As Long As You Love Me (Justin Bieber feat. Big Sean)

35. One Less Lonely Girl (Justin Bieber)

36. Make It Shine (Victorious Cast)

37. Girlfriend (Avril Lavigne)

38. Leave It All to Me (Miranda Cosgrove)           

39. Safe & Sound (Taylor Swift feat. The Civil Wars

40. Nothin' On You (B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars)

And as a way to save face, here are my most-listened to songs of 2012. (This is the part where my wife will call me an old man.)

1. We Can Work It Out (The Beatles)

2. Emotion In Motion (Ric Ocasek)

3. My Back Pages (Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, et al.)

4. Please Please Me (The Beatles)

5. I'll Follow the Sun (The Beatles)

6. Let My Love Open The Door (Pete Townshend)

7. Electric Blue (Icehouse)

8. Take It On The Run (REO Speedwagon)

9. New York, New York (Frank Sinatra)

10. Don't Stop Believin' (Journey)

11. Denise (Randy & Rainbows)

12. God Only Knows (The Beach Boys)

13. When I Grow Up To Be a Man (The Beach Boys)

14. All My Loving (The Beatles)

15. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (The Beatles)

16. Paperback Writer (The Beatles)

17. The Times They Are A-Changin' (Bob Dylan)

18. Norwegian Wood (The Beatles)

19. Blowin' In the Wind (Bob Dylan)

20. Like a Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan)

21. Real World (Matchbox Twenty)

22. Expressway To Your Heart (Soul Survivors)

23. Born In The U.S.A. (Bruce Springstein)

24. All I Really Want To Do (The Byrds)

25. I Wonder Why (Dion & The Belmonts)

26. Got to Get You Into My Life (The Beatles)

27. Cool (Gwen Stefani)

28. Boston (Augustana)

29. I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues (Elton John)

30. Rag Doll (Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons)

31. Basket Case (Green Day)

32. Laid (James)

33. Mrs. Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel)

34. Penny Lane (The Beatles)

35. Take Me Home Tonight (Eddie Money)

36. Next Year (Foo Fighters)

37. Runaround Sue (Dion)

38. Lonely Teenager (Dion)

39. Walk of Life (Dire Straits)

40. Remember Then (The Earls)

Happy New Year, everyone!

35 Minutes From Newtown

It's a cold, grey afternoon here in Central Connecticut; but I'm inside. Our fireplace is lit, our Christmas tree twinkles in the corner - and as if by some obsessive-compulsive urge I keep counting the stockings that hang on the mantle.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. All present and accounted for.

From my perch in the living room, I can hear my five children giggling in the kitchen. They're decorating gingerbread houses, though I'm sure more candy has landed in their stomachs than on the frosted roofs. In a few minutes they'll go watch "Frosty the Snowman" or "Elmo's Christmas Countdown" for the umpteenth time; but for now their focus - their only care in the world - revolves around candy canes and gumdrops.

It dawns on me, as it has often over the past three days, that I could get in my car right now and drive to Sandy Hook Elementary School in about 35 minutes. Thirty-five minutes. That's all that separates my kids' little gingerbread houses from what many have deemed the epicenter of evil in this cruel, inexplicable world.

The questions won't stop pouring through my mind:

What has society come to?

Where is our collective conscience?

How does a loving, compassionate God allow something like this to happen?

Over the next several weeks, reflection will be aplenty. Analyses both forensic and philosophical will inundate - if not consume - us. Our tiny state of Connecticut will undoubtedly lead every news outlet from Dateline NBC to People magazine, while (hopefully) a national public policy debate on semi-automatic weapons will ensue.

And in nine days we'll celebrate Christmas.

I look up again at our stockings. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. All present and accounted for.

May God bless those who aren't as lucky.