mystery solved!

For several years (really) I have been trying to figure out why I could never find one of my favorite children's tapes anywhere online. I was almost 100% positive it was "Free to Be You and Me" but whenever I found that, it was a 1972 release with a few unfamiliar songs on it. I was pretty sure that whatever I remembered was something that had been released in the 1980s (FTBYAM remix). Well! I finally found out, thanks to Wikipedia that my version was actually called "Free to Be A Family."

FTBAF had many of the same songs and stories on it--I particularly remember the one where the girl and boy baby discuss gender roles--but it had a few different ones too. One of my favorites was a Robin Williams piece showing that sometimes Dads help around the house because Mom has a job (he had a special cinnamon toast). Oooo. Another one was a Whoopi Goldberg piece--the only thing I remember about it was that it involved a little girl whose family was on welfare. There was also a song, that I just found out was sung by Soul Asylum, called "It's Not My Fault." Oh my goodness, now I'm looking at all the tracks and it's all coming back. The song "Yourself Belongs to You" was a circa 1988 rap. I'm going to have to go drag this puppy out of the basement. It was pretty much wonderful and if my parents ever wonder why my sister and I are such hippies, they can trace it directly back to the fact that we listened to that tape ALL THE TIME.