Sing Loudly

Grandchildren love it when you sing. They will make you feel like a rock star when you cannot hold a tune. I, personally, am a terrible singer, I mean really bad. I am not one of those people that say they cannot sing and then manage a decent rendition of “Happy Birthday”. When I sing, dogs howl. My whole family was like this. I apologized to my sons Jordan and Daniel for the abyss in our gene pool for musical talent.

But when I sing to Mia, my granddaughter who is 17 months old, her eyes light up. I can sing anything to her and she loves it. When she was really young she liked the National American University commercial jingle (One day, one night, Saturday’s all right, online’s just fine, nighttime any time, get your degree, set yourself free, National American University). I was so thankful for this commercial when she was cranky. It worked like a charm every time. 

Now that she is a bit older, I make up silly songs for her. She loves Elmo so we sing, “Hi Elmo Hi, you’re our favorite guy, Hi Elmo Hi”. Or sometimes I will make up other silly songs:

The Pink Baboon in the silver balloon

Is singing his tune as he flies past the moon

We hope he stops soon

He is such a buffoon

He came from the saloon

‘been drinking since noon

Now he’s starting to croon

He’ll sing until June

It is like a cartoon!

Grandchildren give you an excuse to be silly and lighthearted. The more flourish and gestures you add with your songs, the more they love it. Be goofy and sing loudly.