When the Little Man is in a grouchy mood and in need of a nap, it is often my job to get him to sleep. It takes persistence, but I find that singing him lullabies calms him and eventually puts him to sleep. (Granted, he may decide to go to sleep as a way of escaping the sound of my voice.)
I don’t sing him the traditional lullabies, most of which I can’t stand. Instead, I sing him a variety of Bing Crosby songs. Most frequently, I sing (in no particular order):
- Far Away Places
- The Wiffenpoof Song
- Sam’s Song
- Dear Hearts and Gentle People
- Trade Winds
- Where the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day
- Gone Fishin’
- Road to Morocco
Usually I get through four or five songs before he finally falls asleep, but as I know more than 150 of Bing’s songs by heart, there are always plenty more to choose from.
Kelly thinks this is a little odd of me, singing songs from the 30s and 40s to the Little Man instead of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” but I honestly think he enjoys it and maybe when he gets older, he’ll come to appreciate these old songs as much as I do.
Or maybe he’ll grow to hate them. Who knows?
Interesting what we dads consider “lullabies.”
From my journal post when Damian was 11 months old:
Here’s something that you won’t care too much about, but hey – you already read this far, what’s a little more? When it’s my night to give the Dude his bottle and put him to bed, I always sing to him. Here’s the current rotation of songs in my mental jukebox that I pull from on those nights:
The Eagles – Hotel California, Desperado
Pearl Jam – Black, I Wish
Midnight Oil – One Country
Rolling Stones – Loving Cup
U2 – One Tree Hill, MLK, Running to Stand Still, Bad
Phish – Waste, Sleep
Tori Amos – Silent All These Years
Pink Floyd – Brain Damage/Eclipse
Beatles – Yellow Submarine
Slayer – Altar of Sacrifice (just kidding)
He always falls asleep when I sing to him. What can we conclude from that? Yes, even a baby would rather pretend to be asleep than hear me sing. Whatever – as long as he’s quiet.