Songs We Sing to Our Children

When I was a teenager, I was under the delusion that I was going to be a famous musical theater actress, and that lasted until college, when it dawned on me that  I have the thinnest skin in the entire world and would last about one nanosecond in the life of a want-to-be professional actress.  I gave up on the dream pretty easily, with two small side effects:  I could no longer tolerate the show tunes about which I used to obsess, and I went from singing all the time to barely singing at all.

The only time I did get to sing was as a nanny, putting other people’s children to bed, and I loved it.  I’d forgotten how much I loved it until I became a mom and had kids of my own to sing to sleep.  Now, I sing to the littles (that’s what I generally call the 2 and 4 year old; have I used that here yet?) almost every night, and I’d sing to the oldest if he wouldn’t roll his eyes and slam the door in my face (and if he ever went to bed before 3 am.)

There’s one big difference between my nanny singing and my mommy singing, and it’s not that my voice is now filled with a motherly love that I could never before have imagined.  It’s that I’ve completely lost my ability to choose appropriate songs, and that my kids don’t seem to care.  My nightly repertoire is dark… like, really dark, like, possibly giving my wee ones severe gloom and doom complexes.   Here’s a selection of my sad, sad songs:

So, that last one, my kids LOVE.  In general, actually, my kids love Johnny Cash.  Corrina was bopping her head to Ring of Fire before she could even hold her head up consistently.   Plus, how great is that video of Joni & Johnny singing together?  But, when it comes down to it, someone gets hung in that song.  That’s gotta be an automatic fail Parenting 101.

Even my less melancholy choices are problematic.  I’m partial to Softly and Tenderly, despite the fact that we’re Jewish, Jesus is probably not calling for me, and I am really not ready to talk to my toddlers about sinners.  The melody is just so pretty!  I’ve also always had an affection for What’ll I Do, although it’s a terrible choice in this family, where kids don’t necessarily stay forever and moms can’t sing songs like this without tearing up.

My point is, obviously, I’m in need of some suggestions.  What do you sing to your kids?  What did your parents sing to you?  I’ve got to change things up around here, or we’re all going to lose the will to live.   Help a mama out.

-Meryl at the Goose