Songs of the Season, Part 1

As the introduction to our annual Christmas newsletter this year pointed out, "the local oldies station has switched to 'all Christmas music, all the time.'" Christmas, more than any other holiday, comes with its own musical soundtrack.

The JoyFamily appreciates the holiday soundtrack -- JoyMama in particular was simply delighted with the Messiah singalong at church on Sunday! (Rose, in contrast, left the sanctuary at the first chorus, claiming that the singing and instruments were painfully loud.)

We have our own songs going on this season too.

I've written before about Joy's bedtime routine, that involves filling in the blanks for Rock-A-Bye Joy and Twinkle, Twinkle, with Joy filling in the words. In recent weeks, these songs have gone to a whole new level. They've become an interactive people-play, where Joy decides what will be rocked or twinkled and when it will happen.

It looks something like this: she'll bring me her stuffed penguin and cuddle up to me with penguin in her arms. Then she'll rock slightly back and forth, saying something like "WOH-woh." Which is my cue to sing:

Rock-a-bye PENGUIN, on the tree top,
When the wind blows...

... and Joy fills in some "peh-peh" word so I can continue

PENGUIN will rock!

The funnier the item, the better the Joy-giggles. One of my favorites has been the plastic tomato slice:

Twinkle, twinkle, little TOMATO!!

But wait, there's more! JoyDad and Joy then added a variation where Joy points to her own body-parts, with a one-finger point even, to direct him into verses such as:

Rock-a-bye KNEE, on the tree top,
When the wind blows, BELLY-BUTTON will rock!

The most recent variation has to do with a home-made board book dating back to Joy's days in daycare and early-childhood ed. The book has photos of people close to Joy, plus useful shots representing daycare, home, mealtime booster-chair, potty, etc. When Joy brings this book with a cuddle and a "WOH-woh," and starts flipping to the desired pages, we get something like:

Rock-a-bye GRANDMA, on the tree top,
When the wind blows, POTTY will rock!

I've got a few more musical offerings to share before Christmas rolls around next week. Meanwhile, though, I'm off to the Solidarity Sing-Along at the Capitol, something I've written about here and elsewhere. Today's singalong of holiday-themed protest songs will end up being a test of a set of new restrictive rules designed to quash protest, this regular protest in particular. Might be something of a showdown today, though it sounds as if the administration isn't going to try any mass arrests. I'm all dressed up respectable-like just on the off chance, though!

Keep singing, and I'll report more Joy-family song-related goodies in days to come...