For some reason, when I had a new baby (Holden 3 years ago), all my old church camp songs came flooding back into my head. When he was fussy, I would go to “this little light of mine” out of some long-suppressed instinct.
When Milo was fussy, I turned it up a notch and busted out with “Do lord, oh do lord, oh do remember me (oh lordy), do lord…” and when that got to be a little too well, church camp for my taste, I started switching up the lyrics. I’d sing about whatever was nearby or whatever was on my mind to the same soothing tune such as “Alec, when will youuuuu return from this bike ride (oh lordy) return return return from this ride… ” or “Warm and hold oh hold the warm and hold… hold the warm…” (sung lovingly to my oven’s warming feature).
Whenever either of the boys would get the old “this little piggy” treatment, I always switch around the roast beef to something else: vanilla milkshake, broccoli, tofu, or whatever was on my mind.
Ok, than you for this bizarro journey into my brain. Why am I telling you this?
The Parent Bloggers are inviting us to join the contest to rewrite the “beans beans, musical fruit” jingle and I’m pretty sure I can do that considering all the lyrical silliness that abounds in my house. But before I use brain for that, I want to tell you a true story from yesterday.
I was trying to show off to my husband that Holden, at age 3, knew a little about the presidential race. Holden said something like “Obama” so I asked him, “what is Obama’s first name?” and Holden answered confidently, “Barack.”
Pushing my luck a little, I asked if he knew who was president now. He answered, even more confidently, “Bush Beans.” Because we have a picture of President Bush in the garden alongside the plant for Bush Beans… that’s what he thought.
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What songs get stuck in your head to the point that you sing them to your kids? I told you mine for this weekend’s PBN Blog Blast, sponsored by Bush’s Beans.
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For the first few weeks, I sang church songs. I had no idea I knew the lyrics to half of them but I suppose if you spend your childhood in parochial schools, something has to be retained. Whern I didn’t know lyrics, I just adlibbed.
lately, I just sing what we are doing to old disco songs. ie. ‘that’s the way, we wipe it’ – sung to the tune of KC and the Sunshine Band’s That’s the way I like it’ while I change her diaper.
At night, I’ve somehow clung to ‘Build me up buttercup’.
In the morning though, we start the day with ‘The Hello Song’ from Magic Garden. One day my husband and I just wound up singing it to her and she loves it now. It’s a little nostalgia passed on to our daughter.