When my babes were, well, babes, I would sing to them. Now I sing on request when they are having a hard time going to sleep, or when they need some comfort.
Jan does, too. See Jan. See Jan sing to her baby:
Am I judging for her choice of a song for her baby, a song about a girl getting intimate with a boy in the back yard? A little. Did I sing to my girls? Yes. Traditional and appropriate lullabies? No, not really.
When expecting with Annalise, and listening to Ella Fitzgerald sing, "Easy Living", I thought that was a great song between mother and child...even though I'm sure it was to be between lovers. So that was the main song I sang Annalise.
Actually, I did a medley: Easy Living, followed by, Blackbird (The Beatles), that concluded with Dearest Children, God is Near You (LDS, Hymns). Sometimes I would sing, "Me and My Bobby McGee" with my softest Janis Joplin impersonation I could muster when I ran out of ideas...hey don't judge, it's better than a Bob Dylan impersonation. I imagine that rivals, "Son of a Preacher Man" just a little bit...
Not the traditional. Not really. But my girls love 'em. Hey, I threw a hymn into the mix. That makes up for the others, right? Actually, Madeline was picky. She would only hush and listen to, "I am a Child of God." Seriously, she would cry if I started singing other songs. So my original play list died out a bit when she went through that phase.
So what does everybody else sing to babes? Is everybody singing creepy nursery rhymes (rock a bye baby--I'm sorry, but it's creepy) or old standards or classic rock or hymns? A little of all?
You should hear my shower songs. Now there is a list!
6 comments:
Anden demands I'm Yours by Jason Mraz
If I cry will you sing Janis Joplin?? You've been holding out on us!
Apollo loves Eidelweiss, and tora lora lora. I really like the lyrics to All through the Night, but I can't ever remember all of them. I also sing "You can't always Get What You Want" rolling stones style when Apollo throws a tantrum. He is also obsessed with the song that plays on that commercial where they take chickens and ostriches and other non-flying birds hang gliding. The lyrics are "doo doo doo." Also, the "Manah Manah" song is a classic. But his favorite song at the moment? Old McDonald had a farm. How boring.
I always thought your Janis Joplin imitation was excellent! I loved your redition of her "Hey, hey, hey, what's goin' on" until I learned it was about Pot or Weed that is... But I still LOVE your vocalizing--you can sing to me anytime!
Mom
Oh Jan! She's my model of motherhood.
I only have one staple number: a haunting lullaby called "Baby's Boat" that my mom used to sing to me. It was a hit with kids I used to babysit, and it's easy to personalize: just insert whoever-your-singing-it-to's name where it says "Baby."
I imagine a lot will enter my lullaby repertoire, though. I'm up for anything with a soothing melody that I know the lyrics to. Hopefully my kids will be up for that too.
Thanks for a great knitting group night. I'm enjoying stalking your blog since I got my second wind.
I want to hear your Janis Joplin as well :) I so miss you kimberlee...I need my friend back...Want to move to Star ID? I promise you would love it...It's like a little rexburg...almost without the temple, and the church college nearby...which now that I think of it were the only good things about Rexburg....hmmm. But I do love Star for Reals. I used to sing hick folk songs that My mom used to sing to me like "Frankie and Jonnie" and " I gave my love a cherry" of course all intermingled with childrens hymns as well. I think singing is good no matter what, although 'the son of a preacher' is questionable and usually the idea behind singing is to calm and that song gets pretty up tempo.
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