The Sunday ritual for my daughter and me has been the same ever since I got a new car a few years back that came installed with Sirius Radio. When we were in the car in the morning, we would tune into Breakfast With The Beatles.

I got to share my love of the greatest band there ever was or ever will be with my daughter, who had loved the group herself since she was 2 and saw my Yellow Submarine DVD.

That routine changed a few weeks ago, when my I started the car on a fine spring Sunday morning and I heard a meek voice from the backseat. It was my daughter, now 8 years old, asking, “Dad, could we put on my station?”

Her station is Hits 1, satellite radio’s repository for the most popular pop songs in the country. It’s been the go-to station for my little girl on our way to and from school for the last year or so. But, until then, I always thought that The Beatles, when challenged, would win out.

Ever the diplomat, she claims that she still loves the Fab 4, and I guess I believe her. I’ve grudgingly come to accept the fact that she has to find a place to indulge her own musical tastes, much like I did when I stumbled upon MTV when I was right around her age.

I try to be objective when listening to the stuff that they play on this channel, even when it’s mind-numbingly silly. After all, my Mom probably thought I was daft when I sang along to “Der Kommissar” or “One Night In Bangkok” when I was a kid, even as I considered those '80s classics to be infinitely profound.

Thus, I grit my teeth while listening to Ke$ha and Katy Perry, and I convince myself that my daughter has no idea what some of the lyrics are hinting at, much like I was ignorant of the innuendos rampant in songs from my youth like “She Bop” and “Little Red Corvette”. I do have to draw the line occasionally; the station gets changed whenever “S & M” by Rihanna comes on. Some things I’m just not ready to explain.

I’ve also been somewhat heartened by the fact that some of the artists that I genuinely like get some airplay on Hits 1, so there’s a bit of crossover between our tastes. Black Keys and Vampire Weekend have gotten occasional spins recently while Mumford & Sons, who are starting to grow on me, are in the regular rotation. And I almost crashed my car a few months ago when I heard the opening piano strains to Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” come on after an Usher song one day.

In addition, I’ve actually found myself enjoying some songs that the music critic in me wants to deride. Songs like “For The First Time” by The Script, “The Big Bang” by Rock Mafia, “Animal” by Neon Trees, and, yes, even “Jar Of Hearts” by Christina Perri, are the kind of songs that speak to the 8-year-old in me that’s a sucker for a great hook that gets stuck in your head but doesn’t make you regret it later.

One thing that really made me do a double-take a few days back was when my daughter told me that she doesn’t mind long car trips anymore because she enjoys listening to the radio. That’s exactly how I felt when I was a kid. It gives me confidence that her own tastes will morph into something more substantial down the road.

When she’s ready for it, Dad has all the CDs she needs to check out.

But until she starts singing along to Elvis Costello and The Band, I’ll settle for small victories like the one I had the other day. You see, my daughter takes singing lessons and gets to choose the songs she wants to perform for her teacher each week. Of course, she’s been choosing primarily Hits 1 material each time, but she stunned me by saying the other day that she wants to try a Beatles song. Maybe I’m overreacting about all this, after all.

Just as long as she doesn’t choose “She’s Leaving Home.”