Baby Song

Yesterday, I went into Madeleine's school to teach a music class, and I introduced the kids to a new song.  This song is about a baby who is put to bed, tucked in, and kissed good-night, but still can't sleep.  The kids each get a chance to offer a suggestion to help the baby get to sleep, so the song gets longer and longer with each extra thing we do for the baby. 

Since Madeleine was sitting next to me, she got to come up with the first suggestion.  Of course, Madeleine went with the absolute literal solution to the baby problem.

ME: Uh-oh, the baby got out of bed.  Madeleine, what should we do to help the baby get to sleep?
MADELEINE: Uh, put up the SIDES.  Put up those SIDES on the crib so the baby CAN'T get out.

Luckily, the rest of the classmates offered ideas like feeding the baby milk, singing a lullaby, turning on the night-light, etc, so the song didn't turn into a method for constructing a baby prison.

Madeleine was so enthralled by this song that when I picked her up from school, she asked me if we could sing the song together at home.  The minute we were in the house, she was ready to go.

MADELEINE: Okay, Mama, ready?  Sing the baby song.

I thought that since there was just one kid, the one solution she offered would be the end of the song and the baby would be asleep.  So when I sang her idea and then kissed the baby good-night, I assumed we were done with the song, and I went off to clean the bathroom.

Turns out Madeleine's subsequent silence was simply because she didn't know the name of the object for her next idea.  As I was heading to the bathroom, I saw Madeleine grabbing a piece of blank paper and a marker, exclaiming, "Wait, Mama, I have an idea."

As I was mired in bleach and water, scrubbing the bathroom, I was suddenly interrupted by Madeleine running in, holding out a drawing.

MADELEINE: Uh, Mama?  You could try THIS thing, but I don't know what it's called.

ME: Oh, a mobile?
MADELEINE: Yes. 

So it was back to the song, which I got to sing while scrubbing the toilets.  I mean, Snow White did suggest you whistle while you work, so I guess singing is equally good entertainment, right?

I am happy to report that after multiple suggestions of Madeleine's, such as giving the baby twinkling blue starlight, the fictional baby in the song finally DID go to sleep.  I can tell that when Madeleine's dream of being a grown-up and having lots of babies finally comes true, she will be a total pro at the baby bedtime routine.