Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christmas Carols and Lullabies

"Sing me to sleep,"my little one asked as I tucked her into bed tonight.

Now, anyone who has heard me sing probably wonders how even a child could ask this. The most charitable thing that can be said for my singing is that I know all of the words. I am so terribly tone deaf that when I was young the kind-hearted director of the church choir suggested that I would be an asset to the bell choir. Translation: "keep your mouth shut." I tried to join the choir in school. I was given a special role - dancer. Again, "keep your mouth shut."

So, beyond drunkenly belting out the words to any song played in a dance club in the 1980s my singing career has been somewhat limited.  In fact, when my oldest was born I realized that I didn't know any songs - except Billy Idol's White Wedding. "There is nothing fair in this world; There is nothing sure in this world; There is nothing pure in this world...." Not exactly a lullaby.

Instead, I sang my little late November baby to sleep with Jingle Bells. When Amanda was little I would put on a Christmas CD and rock her to sleep. By the time Danielle arrived eight years later I'd learned a huge library of Christmas Carols ranging from Holly Jolly Christmas to Do You Hear What I Hear? My favorites being all of the Nat "King" Cole classics and anything from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

So, tonight, in mid-December, I was happy to oblige Danielle with a lullaby. As she drifted off to my tunelessly humming Jingle Bells, she sighed and said,"oh, my baby song..."

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