Lullaby

Chrys and I used to take turns singing to her every night when she was younger. Then, as we nightweaned and Corin was born, he took over bedtime duty and, I think, began almost exclusively reading to her.

We've been playing with bedtime routines lately as we try to gently sleep train Corin. The result is that I get to sing to Ryanne at bedtime again. As with her books, she gets 3 songs. Usually she wants one of her Japanese songs - I only know 2 or 3, but it's enough. Then, she often requests one about her Purple Cat.

Purple Cat is a pillow made to look like the (no longer available - now they just have cocoa cats) purple cat Peeps that came out at Halloween. We got it on mega clearance one day when she was learning what a pillow was (almost 2 years ago).

There is no song that goes along with her Purple Cat. I made something up. It was 4 lines, rhyming dyads, nothing fancy. The next night, she wanted the song again. I couldn't remember what I had sung the night before so she got a new one. Now, she asks for it just about every night and I don't think I've repeated lyrics yet.

The last song is one I get to pick. I've sung "Sunshine on my Shoulders" (by John Denver) because my mom used to sing that to me. I've sung the chorus of "You are My Sunshine" because Chrys' mom used to sing that to him. (Ryanne also recognizes that as the song they sing at the end of the Biscuit Brothers concerts so she loves hearing that one. In fact, she started sining it in the car today on the way to the Y and it almost made me cry. She has the sweetest little voice. How's that for a tangent?) Sometimes I sing something from our Music Together classes. (Love those because I will apparently be reminded of, or learn, 1 or 2 new lullabies every session.) Chrys sings "Twinkle, Twinkle" in Latin and English or the "ABC"s and I've adopted those.

I always love finding new songs to sing, though. Anything anyone else remembers fondly or sings to their kids?