Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Now I know my ABC's

I am really not much of a singer. I can hardly carry a tune. There's the lack of talent, the lack of practice, and the self-consciousness. Somewhere around my 40th hour of labor the self-conscious thing flew out the 6th floor delivery room window, so that was out of the way. Then, there was a delicious baby needing entertainment, so I'm getting a lot more practice. There's the lack of talent part, kind of stuck with that, but who cares? Really? See above re: 40th hour of labor.

One of the nice side effects of parenthood is how much I sing now. I'm all Wheels on the Bus in the middle of the grocery store (imagine!), all If You're Happy and You Know It walking around the neighborhood. Every night Jeff and I sing the ABC song to Bubba while we brush his delicious little baby teeth. My reedy untrained alto squeaks out the melody, and Jeff's trained, strong, healthy, bassy voice makes magic harmony. Sometimes he makes it sound jazzy, others like chamber music. Sometimes oompa loompa-y, sometimes like a hymn. Sometimes we make it fast, sometimes we drag it out. If Bubba resists, we stop until he is ready again...Q, R, S, T--stop--okay, Q, R, S...We always sing it at least twice, and Bubba is transfixed the whole time and always makes the sign for "more" when we finish.

It is often the most magical part of my day. We are squarely a team during those moments. We need each other, we help each other. We bring out the best in each other. We make something better than either one of us could make alone. We make each other stronger. We make our son happy. We make brushing teeth something to look forward to. Just for those moments, we rock.

15 comments:

Sojourner said...

Beautiful! And your baby is too.

Misty said...

i love this! It is funny, isn't it- how we begin to sing- those of us who shouldn't. I know I fall in that club and yet, still, with my daughter being 9- I sing all of the time!

JessTrev said...

Awww...and I bet singing makes you *feel* great too! I know it does for me, as I am belting out my 9,000 rendition of the Dan Zanes favorite du jour.

Anonymous said...

You totally rock. :) I sing to my children constantly. I think sometimes it gets on their nerves but I don't actually care. :)

She She said...

How funny! I was just thinking the other day how unselfconscious I've become about singing. I'll sing to my kids in front of anyone.

What a gorgeous picture. Bubba is getting so big.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

Lovely image.

lapoflux said...

What a lovely post, thanks for sharing.

But 40 hours of labour? Wrong I tell you, WRONG!

ellen said...

Nora, this is a lovely post...funny and sweet and very comforting.
I love how little children help to liberate us so called grown ups. It is a true privilege to be in the company of children. (Well, I'll amend that to say, with most children.)
What a beautiful little boy that Bubba is.

Anonymous said...

So sweet. So true. Enjoyed this post immensely.

Anonymous said...

okay, crying...

Irene said...

What an adorable child with such adoring parents. Perfect!

Anonymous said...

This is beautiful.

My oldest has requested lullabies lately and doesn't care that I can't carry a tune. Where I used to be so self conscious I now feel like a queen - if only in his eyes.

Lisa Wheeler Milton said...

We sing too, and I'm quite sure no one outside our circle would *appreciate* it.

Lovely post.

Jennifer said...

Awww. *sniff-sniff*. And that beautiful shot of your boy, too. Awww.

And, yeah. I totally sing in the middle of the grocery store, too. ;)

Anonymous said...

Aww... would you look at that face? I've got a hunch that the two of you rock more often than those few moments -- I mean, look at that face!