Wednesday 8 October 2008

Rock a bye baby

Thanks for all your great comments about MCNs - its so interesting to hear other's experiences! One of the selling points I forgot to mention was nappy rash - Princess Grace had it when I was using disposables in the first week or so (before I was confident she was big enough for the clothies), but after 24 hours in cloth - gone. And not a skerrick since. How good is that?

When I put the Princess to bed of an evening, I usually sing her a lullaby as she lays in her cot, swaddled up like a sausage and big eyes gazing up at me.

Sadly, I can't write music and so can only tell you the words, not the tune:

Moon, moon, shining and silver,
Moon, moon, silver and white,
Moon, moon, whisper to children,
Sleep through the silvery night.
Shine, shine, shine, shine,
Sleep through the silvery night.

I've heard it a few times on Playschool, but haven't been able to find anything more on it.

It's become a special quiet time for the Princess and I. She seems to like my singing - possibly the only person in the world who does, as Beloved snorts when I try to sing and even Pirate Jim says "Stop singing Mama!" if I try to sing along with Playschool!

Before PJ knew enough about music to know my how bad my singing is, our special song at bedtimes was "Twinkle twinkle little star". First time around I didn't have so much confidence, or Playschool, and my repertoire was very limited. He'll sometimes still let me sing it, and sings along now too, which I love.

It got me to thinking though - what's your favourite lullaby? The one you sing (sang) with the special wee ones in your life, or the one that was sung to you.

I'd love to hear about it!

15 comments:

Bells said...

this is really sad but I can't think of one. I can't think of one that was sung to me, nor have I had much chance to find out what I would sing if I were to sing a little person to sleep. But it's a lovely idea.

Michelle said...

We used to go fishing over at Bribie Island when I was very little, and it was always dark when we drove home. I always remember mum and dad singing "I see the moon, the moon sees me, over the mountains over the see ... etc" to me. I don't know whether it was a lullaby or not, but that is one of my strongest memories. Mum and dad were always singing. It's probably where I get it from.

amy said...

Vaughan had colic and I was up all night with him lots and lots. I used to put him in the sling and sway and sing, and one of the songs I sang most often was "What a Wonderful World," the Louis Armstrong version. My husband had put it on a CD he gave me for mother's day that year I was pregnant. I had a large repertoire of songs I sang to Vaughan. Colic will do that to you. The one I sang most often to Nicholas is one I made up:

Mama loves Nicholas
Daddy does too
Vaughan loves Nicholas
We all love you.
We all love Nicholas
We all love Nicholas
We all love Nicholas, that's you.
We all love Nicholas
Cause he's so lovable,
We all love Nicholas, it's true.

Erin said...

I always say my meep My Lagan Love. here is a link to the lyrics, as there are quite a bit of them:
http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiLAGANLUV.html

I never sang the whole thing, but its a lovely song, and even though he is 9, sometimes he still begs me to sing it to him.

Happy Blogtoberfest!

Geek Knitter said...

My mother sang me to sleep, but the words have gone away from me. She could have been singing me her "to do" list and I wouldn't have cared. What I remember about those times are the smell of her hair and the feeling of being perfectly safe and loved.

With a Q said...

My mum is Dutch and used to sing us a little ditty that translates somewhere along the lines of "clap your hands together, clap,clap, clap. Pat them on your head, pat, pat, pat. Shake it all about now." Not really a lullaby. The English translation just doesn't do it for me.

Interestingly, my younger sister is the only sibling with kids, and she does not know the words. She always asks me to sing it to her kids. They love it when Aunty Jacqui sings the funny words (cos I don't think my mum (their Oma) speaks any Dutch to them - shame)

JustJess said...

Hush a-by, don't you cry, go to sleepy little baby. When you wake, you shall see, all the pretty little horses. Blacks and bays, dapples and bays, coach-and-six a little horses. Makes tears come to my eyes though - I used to sing it to my littlie when she was in hospital - most of her first year. I even made a quilt with the lullaby on it. It remains unfinished as it makes me too sad! I love the idea of crooning someone to sleep.

Lynne said...

Brahm's Cradle Song:
Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep little baby,
Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep little one!

Didn't sing it very often - she fed to sleep.

I also love "Carra Barra Wirra Canna"
Carra Barra Wirra Canna
Little star upon the lake
Guide me through the hours of darkness
Keep me safely 'til I wake.

Bec said...

I don't remember my mum singing to me at all. I don't sing my two to sleep but they will lay in my arms and I sing....
Little baby
Little baby
-insert particular childs name - is my little baby
then we bounce and jiggle....
Big girl/boy
Big girl/boy
-insert childs name - is my big girl/boy
Izaak - at age 7 - will still do it with me sometimes.

Thanks Georgie - for making me think about the lovely memories I have of this from when Izaak was little. It's something I haven't thought about for ages. Heart warming memories.

Monique said...

I sing "hush little baby don't say a word, mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird. And if that mocking bird don't sing, mam's gonna buy you a diamond ring". After that the words get made up, with the only rule being that they have to rhyme". I loved it, Luca loves it(he now sings it to ellie whenever she cries), and now ellie loves it.

Kate said...

I used to sing "You are My Sunshine" to Til when she had trouble getting to sleep. One of my treasured memories is when I overheard my partner singing it to her when he took over getting her off to sleep one night when I was just about crying from lack of sleep. He's like me, cracked voiced and a-tonal. Who'da thought that works just as well as pitch perfect?

Alwen said...

I don't think anyone is going to know our son's favorite lullaby!

It was from a book illustrated by Maurice Sendak early in his career, called Lullabies and Night Songs.

The green worm sleeps in silk
The turtle sleeps in sand
The bluebird sleeps in a feather bed
The yak prefers to stand

The white lamb sleeps in wool
The ermine sleeps in fur
But the baby sleeps in his mama's arms
All warm and close to her


(The original says "the monkey sleeps", but I always sing it as "the baby".)

SB_Australia said...

When DD1 was born I sang Baby Mine to her every breast feed & now, at age 4, when she's sick or upset the song calms her right down!

I preferred the Bette Midler version which is on the beaches sound track.

Rosemary said...

My mother sang this lullaby to my sisters and I and I now sing it to my two sons!

Anonymous said...

Like a previous comment,I used to sing "You are my sunshine..."
It ends with "Please don't take my Sunshine away".
Sadly,he passed away at age 45.
My Sunshine was taken away!
They were 45 awesome,now treasured years.