Saturday, May 17, 2008

Lullabye and goodnight

I sing to Hamlet every night. I like to sing and have a passable voice, so I'm trying to pass on that love of music to my son. He now makes requests:

"Mommy, you sing Cars song."
"Honey, Mommy is not Cheryl Crow."
"You try Mommy." He pats my shoulder, "You try." And because he is my pup, my love, I try.

"Mommy, you sing We Will Rock You."
Because his babysitter plays what she calls "Jock Jams" and We Will Rock You makes an appearance at every hockey game ever played...this is now on the playlist.


"Mommy, you sing Dreamland." There's a place, way up high, starry bright there through the night there...

And then there are the songs I sing to Hamlet that someone once sang to a smaller, younger Hammy.

When I was a child, it was a grand treat for me to spend the night at my grandparent's house. They lived across town, and my Pops worked nights. So, I sometimes stayed "to keep Nan company". I would snug down in her big bed and ask her to sing me to sleep.

"Oh, honey you don't want to hear my scratchy old voice." (For posterity, my Nan was 40 when I was born.)

"Yes, I do!"

And because she couldn't refuse me, because her heart was mine and we both knew it, she sang:

You climbed up on my knee
You're all the world to me
You're mine from head to toe
That little girl of mine
No one will ever know, just what your coming has meant
But I love you so, you're something heaven must have sent....

I was in heaven, and all was right in my world.

So, as I write this, wishing I could hear my Nan's voice one more time, I hear Hamlet in his crib...
(We will, we will rock you! Buddy you're a strong man!)...and hope that he always remembers how his Mommy sang to him.

No comments: