Lullabys don't come naturally to me. My repertoire of songs that can be hummed or sung is very limited. Poor Roan was getting the Jeopardy questionaire melody hummed to her on a daily basis....no wonder she was not drifting off to la la land. She was probably feeling the pressure of a thousand pairs of eyes waiting for her to ask "What is the capital of Mozambique?"Then I had a brillant idea, why not pop in a CD and sing along, it's like me singing an inept lullaby but accompanied by some serious artistes who can blessedly drown me out.
Like many other "grown ups", I don't have many opportunities to belt out any tunes....my neighbors are breathing a collective thankful sigh of relief and have put down their industrial size boxes of ear plugs. I think the last time anyone was "lucky" enough to hear my singing was my poor husband, D, trapped in our 2 week cross country trip from CA to NYC, and I had "treated" him to me singing along to "Aretha Franklin's Greatest Hits". I am surprised he didn't abandon me at some roadside rest stop due to his bleeding eardrums.
Roan and I start our little performance at 9:30PM to counteract her usual freakout session, where her alter ego, Ro-ANNNNN makes an appearance with much tears, wails and hyperventilation. And it has been working pretty well. She seems to just relax when the CD player is on, sometimes, I put her on the bed and I hold her legs or arms and move it to the melody. Sometimes she even opens her mouth and tries to copy me singing along. Sometimes I practice my boxstep dance steps (from Arthur Murray Dance Studio daze) with her in the room. She is almost always smiling when we have our sing-a-long hour. A nice break from her usual prison guard stern disposition.
So far, Billie Holliday's "Moonlight in Vermont"has been a favorite, followed by Ella Fitzgerald's A Little Jazz, and this week, we are doing Rickie Lee Jones. Roan loves Chuck E's in Love. I grab R's chubbola legs and we just have the greatest time, swaying to the song. Sometimes I think I enjoy these little groove out sessions more than The Bean.....but I guess she'll let me know when she can speak and say "Mom, zip it." I hope that day doesn't happen for a very long while.
5 comments:
I can see it already, Roan is the upcoming poster child for "Dancing with the Stars", great photo! And I dare say she's exhibiting very mature taste in music...no Corey Hart? Bon Jovi???
Congratulations on your blog Roan a.k.a. Cipollona (I mean, those cheeks....) I remember being fascinated with Chuck E (not Cheese's) too, mostly because I couldn't understand a damn word that Ricky Lee sang, but who cares? It's all phonetic and hence the universal appeal to babies!
Ah izza hyah? Ah lookin da pu-hass. Uh izza hyah? Ah lookin da drugstah....
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Calli, I think she will need alot of help from her dance partner, bec. her big head does tend to throw her center of gravity off a wee bit. ;-) And the music selection, esp RLJ is a tribute to her mom's awesome friends from Rand Hall days. Next week, we are breaking out Bonjovi, ...I had remembered you had them recorded on back to back 90 minute cassette tapes...what a wonderful pairing....many happy hours w/ the walkman on autoreverse.
Mille grazie, Tiff.....I think R would even love the song more if it was in fact Chuckie Cheese..... ;-) and yes, that Rickie Lee, she is so durn melodic, who cares what the heck she is singing. But I have to be careful not to play certain songs for R or she gets too excited and then I have hell to pay and she wont sleep......maybe I need to try some sNorah Jones.
I'm hoping my first attempt to comment on a blog actually works. This is not my usual area of internet strength (like shopping on line). Anyway, I continue to reiterate that while Roan may enjoy Chuck E, she should be listening to the maestros (only the M and the B will do for her listening pleasure). I guess Chuck E can do in an emergency, but only where she absolutely has to shake her groove thing!!!!
Post a Comment