Sanity Buster: Kids' Music

Jack and I drove up to Big Rapids on Monday so we could retrieve our much-missed Shergar, who'd been staying with my parents since early February while we traveled. We stayed with them Monday and Tuesday nights and then headed back here Wednesday evening so we could attend our music class on Thursday morning.

Jack was... how shall I say it?... lively on the three-hour-drive back to Ann Arbor. For a while, he played nicely with toys - but then he started hurling them toward me. So I stopped handing things back as I realized his chosen activity was quite dangerous for us as I was driving over 70 mph. Then he started shouting "out" telling me he wanted out of the car seat. I was really trying to get home by 7:30 or so as I wanted Jack to be able to see Mick and then go straight to bed. Jack decided he didn't want the radio on (he plugged his ears while I was listening to NPR... there goes one of my guilty pleasures) but I asked him if he wanted me to sing. "Yeah" he said. (He's finally figured out the difference between "yes" and "no" which is actually quite helpful. He used to just say "yeah" for every question you asked him, which was funny but not really productive.)

So, I started singing the ABCs, always a sure hit with him. "NOOOOOO!" he shouted. Great. I tried Happy Birthday, another favorite. Again, the screaming and the "noooo!" I ran through my repertoire: "Jack, do you want BINGO? Itsy Bitsy Spider? Twinkle Twinkle? You Are My Sunshine?" All were met with a fierce "NO!"

Growing exasperated, I disgustedly said to him something along the lines of "Fine, if you don't want any of these songs then I guess we ride in silence until we get home... because I'm NOT stopping to get you out of this car."

"Seeeeshhh" he replied.

What?

"Seeeeshhh! Seeeeshhh!"

I thought for a minute and then realized he must be requesting a song from his music class: She sells seashells by the seashore.

So I asked him, "Do you want me to sing the seashell song?"

"YEAH!"

So for the next THIRTY FIVE MILES I sang it over and over and over and over. Every five minutes or so I'd try to slip in a Baa Baa Black Sheep or something but he'd immediately scream again until I resumed the damn seashell song.

Seriously, 35 miles. I really thought I was going to go certifiably insane by the time we pulled into the driveway. Thank goodness Mick was home when we arrived. I walked into the house (leaving Jack in his car seat) and simply said to Mick, "your turn."

Then, yesterday afternoon, we were on our way back from music class and Mick and I were trying to keep Jack awake as he was so tired but we wanted him to wait to fall asleep until we got home. I asked if he wanted us to sing. He said yes, but this time he wanted the star song.

So, I (and Mick, grudgingly) began:

"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are..."

At which point Mick says "well you're a STAR, duh."

I couldn't stop laughing... and still crack up every time I think of this. Why did it never occur to me before that these lyrics are totally non-sensical?

Thankfully, Jack is learning all about the Beatles and he often asks for Paul so we're spared traditional kids' music much of the time. But when we're not, it can get rough.