What lullabies do you sing for your baby?
Your baby will love your voice no matter what you sing. I have a terrible voice but I can calm my baby down by singing whatever is on the radio. I joke that he is the only one that appreciates my singing voice =) I do sing "You are my sunshine" to him when I am breastfeeding and even after three months, it still brings tears to my eyes.
What songs do you sing to your children? What songs did your parents sing to you?
Let's see... when she was very little, the usual nursery rhymes, but for real songs, it was anything by Raffi. Oh, do I adore that guy's way with a lyric. Bananaphone!! So funny!! And the thing I've learned about little people is if you look like you're getting a kick out of it, they will too.So in that spirit I've always sung songs I loved as a kid, no matter how passé they may be now, and things I love as a grownup, too. There is a lot of singing in our world even now that she's a sophisticated tween. That would include most everything I mentioned on this list: What are the best acoustic guitar songs to have in your sing-along repertoire? Especially Peter, Paul, and Mary's songs, which have great messages and are easy for kids to get into at any age.We take many-hours-long drives several times a year to see my family, so she gets to hear everything I love (I'm the driver!!) on our CD playlists and has grown up loving the same stuff, lucky me. From Billie Holliday to Oasis, from Woodie Guthrie to Danú (Irish-modern-folk), from Sinatra to Jason Mraz. I'm raising a kid who likes lot of music... just like her mama. Sadly, she's no longer up for Raffi, but I'm such a big kid I'd probably still listen once in a while if she'd let me.When I was a kid: showtunes, Irish folk music, especially the Clancy Brothers, PP & M and other American folkies, Sinatra, Bing Crosby, were all sung around the house whenever a lyric popped into someone's head. When I think back, we must have sung nursery rhymes and such, but honestly, I just remember my dad breaking into song all the time—if somebody said Heaven and it made him think of Pennies From Heaven or whatever. And I'm just about the same way with my daughter.
Did you create a personal lullaby for your child?
I actually did.It came about sometime after our oldest turned 3.Anyways, there I was, with a three year old and a one year old and a husband working evenings. That meant a lot of bedtimes done solo.In desperation one night I picked up our big little man and held him sideways, just like you’d cradle a newborn in your arms. I rocked him gently side to side and began singing.“Like a baby, like a baby, like a baby… boy…Like a baby, like a baby, you’re my little… joy…Like a baby, like a baby, like a baby… boy…Like a baby, like a baby, you’re my little…joy…Just… like… a baby!”The pauses have little to do with the rhythm or tune, and much more to do with the fact that holding a 30lb child baby-style while energetically rocking them and singing with their weight pressing onto your abdomen creates an urgent need for air!It was an instant success, and our youngest begged to “do like a baby” too.Now they sing it with me, and our oldest recently walked in carrying his teddy bear snuggled in his arms and announced that he was “doing like a baby with Johnny Teddy”.Sometimes I make up random verses. “And I love you, yes I love you, yes I truly do… for I love you, really love you, you are special, you…”It’s special.
Why are lullabies and children songs so grim?
The most disturbing to me is 'Ring around the Rosie'. I was freaked out when I found out it as about the Black plague
What songs or rhymes do you sing to your baby?
Baa baa Black Sheep Humpty Dumpty Mary Had a Little Lamb If all the Raindrops were Lemon drops and gumdrops The Wheels on the Bus Roly Poly The EensyWeensy Spider B I N G O Old Macdonald had a Farm Hush Little Baby Twinkle Twinkle Little Star The Ants go Marching In I'm a Little Teapot Where is Thumbkin Row Row Row Your Boat 5 Little Ducks If You're Happy and You Know It The Grand Old Duke of York Miss Polly Had a dolly You are My Sunshine One Elephant Criss Cross applesauce Head and Shoulders This Old Man 5 Little Monkey's ABC Round and Round the Garden The Hokey Pokey Down By the Station You can probably find the words to most of these online.,
Did your Mother ever sing to you as a child or baby?
I don't remember if she did or not. I do know that as the 6th child I got plenty of attention.Here's a cute story, though: My husband used to sing “The End of the Rainbow” to our granddaughter when she was a baby, especially when it was bedtime. When my granddaughter got old enough to talk, she said, “Why do I cry whenever you sing that song?”This was such a routine that she forgot why she was crying.
Moms, what silly/sweet/ or unique songs do you sing to your baby/children?!?
I sing this while changing my son's diaper, to the tune of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, the part with thunder bolt and lightning I see a little baby bum I want to pinch Gotta pinch gotta pinch gotta pinch that baby bum Wiggle wiggle way from me, from me from MEEEEEEEE! Other than that it's you everyday average boring lullaby.
What are the best lullabies/goodnight songs for children? I tuck my kiddos in at work every night and I know a million songs, but eventually, we will run out of songs that are specifically "good night" songs & we like to mix it up.
You could try some of the songs Brownies and Girl Guides sing at the end of their campfires. These songs are meant to be quiet, reflective and are chosen to put the girls into a calmer, sleepier state of mind as they sip on their cocoa. They aren't specifically bedtime songs but some sound like lullabies.Here's a useful resource:Quiet SongsEach of these songs on this webpage feature a brief video of someone performing the song plus the lyrics. The performer is singing solo and a capella - just as you will be with your children.Personally I quite like Edelweiss, as featured in The Sound of Music musical/movie.Again, Girl Guide camp associated memories. My late mother was a Guide Leader, so the rest of us in the family we're roped into going too. I associate this song with a week in a very damp August in 1981. It rained continuously and the week was spent in a marquee doing arts and crafts, singing excerpts from The Sound of Music and drinking slightly smoky tasting cocoa.