She Remembers the Song!
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Girl almost 2 was having a fit before bedtime. Usually sweet and agreeable, she put on her angry eyes and resisted every step along the road to her bed and blankie. The diaper change, the pajamas, the bedtime story. I tried to bribe her with a song. It’s worked in the past but she was having none of it.
“Do you want to sing a song?”
“Yah!” (Keep in mind that everything she says here is in a squealy, temper-tantrum voice that I can’t reproduce in print.)
“Hush little baby, don’t say a word—”
“No!”
“You don’t like that one?”
“No!”
“Jesus loves me, this I know—”
“No!”
“Michelle, ma belle, these are words that go together well, my Michelle”
“No!”
“There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold—”
“No!”
“Ok, now you’re being blasphemous.”
“Want a song, Dad!”
“Unforgettable. That’s what you are.”
“No!”
We went through a pretty extensive catalog of music, ranging from Eminem to La, la, la, la, Lemon. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t really looking for a song that would satisfy her. It was just fun getting under her skin. I tried again.
Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes
And save these questions for another day.
Silence. This one might work.
I think I know what you’ve been asking me.
I think you know what I’ve been trying to say.
I promised I would never leave you. And you should always know.
Wherever you may go, no matter where you are,
You’ll always be a part of me.
At that point, Girl 15 spoke up from the other room. “Hey! That’s my song!”
I used to sing that song to her while rocking her to sleep when she was her little sister’s age. She couldn’t have been more than 2 the last time I sang it to her, and yet she remembers! How is that possible when she can’t remember that her phone curfew is 10:00?
Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullabye,
Then in your heart there will always be a part of me.
I don’t know how she remembers, but it’s pretty awesome. One day she’ll sing it to her daughter and I’ll bawl like a baby.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Very cool that she not only remembers but that she admitted it to you! I also recall the song my mother sang to me every night, and I cannot sing it or even think about it without tears.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:17 am
That’s interesting, Michele. How old do you think you are in your earliest memory of the song?