Introduction

Hi, I’m Alefiyah coming to you from the land of rain, coffee, and extremely enthusiastic cyclists—yes, Portland, Oregon. I’m a cardiac electrophysiologist. By day, I specialize in electrical signals of the heart. By night, I specialize in pretending to know why clouds behave the way they do, often Googling at a suspiciously rapid pace. I have two children—ages 4 and 7—who are my creative directors, quality-control supervisors, and unfiltered critics for this podcast. One thing about young children: they remember songs with terrifying efficiency. They can’t remember where their jacket is, but they can recall a jingle they heard once in 2019. During car rides, with them I realized I had two options: Contemporary pop music stitched together with half finished thoughts, or Children's songs so basic, my brain cells were dying. I thought: We can do better. Our Children’s minds are sponges—eager, curious, and capable of learning way beyond “The Wheels on the Bus.” But where is the music that’s fun and actually says something? Where are the songs that could spark a conversation instead of just getting stuck in my head forever? And so this podcast was born. This show is meant to be a spark— a primer, a conversation starter, a “hey mom, why is the sky blue?” generator. It’s not a complete lesson. I’m not trying to replace your science teacher. I’m just here to make your car rides more interesting and slightly less hostage-like. Now, I know children learn through repetition, which means you—the unsuspecting adult—may have to listen to each song several times. Don’t panic. Each episode uses a different genre of music partly because variety is great for learning… and mostly because I am trying to mitigate your suffering in the minivan. I hope this podcast brings you and your child as much curiosity, laughter, and connection as I had creating it. And if it also saves you from hearing Baby Shark for the 20th time today, then, my work here is done. To share feedback or send a question from your little one that you’d love to hear as a song, you can reach me at wonderwisestudio@gmail.com