My children have no idea what an awful singer I am. Because they are still very small and I still retain God-like status in their eyes (and ears), they, in opposition of the rest of the free world, enjoy hearing me sing, and encourage me to do it often. Since they will soon find out what everybody else already knows about their tone-deaf mother, I happily and enthusiastically indulge their requests.
And like many parents, I sing to my children at bedtime, something I have done so since my first was born, 5 ½ years ago. And in 5 ½ years, I don’t think I have ever gotten the lyrics right. To anything.
The problem is, I am about as tired as my kids by time I put them to bed, and my brain just cannot conjure up the correct words, even if I was the one that chose the song and had previously, in a more sleep-rich life, known the proper lyrics. So I just make them up.
Take our current most-requested bedtime song, Mockingbird. I’m not actually sure how we ever got on to singing this one, and I’m also not sure I ever knew the correct words, but I sing it to my children practically every night anyway. My version goes like this:
Hush little baby, don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.
And if that mockingbird don’t sing, Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.
(Good start, right?)
(Here’s where it gets weird)
And if that diamond ring turns brass, Mama’s gonna buy you a looking glass.
And if that looking glass fogs over, Mama’s gonna buy you a four-leaf clover. (?)
And if that four-leaf clover ain’t lucky, Mama’s gonna buy you a (phthalate-free!) rubber ducky.
And if that rubber ducky don’t float, Mama’s gonna buy you a big, shiny boat.
And if that big shiny boat turns round, (WTF?)
You’ll still be the sweetest little baby in town.
Insane, or smart thinking on my feet? I’ll leave it to you to decide; all I know is that my kids think that I’m da bomb, and that a four-leaf clover is a reasonable substitute for a foggy mirror, which is a good substitute for a diamond ring. (SUCKERS!)
My only worry is that my children will one day hear the correct versions of the songs I sing to them, and realize that I am a lunatic. It’s going to happen, because I do sing some pretty classic songs that get lots of radio play.
Just wait until they find out that Peter, Paul and Mary were not leaving on a jet plane to go to Florida, where it’s warmer in the winter. Oh babe, I hate the snow.
Heh.
You must at least be a better singer than me because just the other day my two-year-old said, “No singing, Mommy. You’re not a good songer. I’m only a good songer.” She then proceeded to sing a lullaby to herself.
Rebecca´s last [type] ..Bedtime Reading
This is exactly what I encourage moms to do in my baby times – it’s a good thing!
But I would have gone with “if that big shiny boat goes down” – morbid, maybe, but a better rhyme, and more disastrous.
kittenpie´s last [type] ..New Year- Back to The Blog
Every time I sing Edelweiss to my kids, I think about how you once commented on my blog that you sing that song with the wrong words. And in my mind I try to conjure up what those wrong words might be, but then I giggle and get in trouble for not singing the right words. Great first post mama.
You must be doing something right, my daughter has never wanted me to sing unless its our own creative version of The Beatles “Dear Prudance” which has been converted to “Dear Hadie”. Shes known the words since birth, or so it seems. So now i am only alloud to take over when she starts to get tired….she will nudge me and say “ok mamman, i guess you can sing now”. Lucky me!