Lullabies, Loosely Translated

My husband has a beautiful singing voice. He pretty much came from the VonTrapp family: they all sing, play instruments, and sing four-part harmony at family gatherings (thank goodness for my one year in the high school choir that taught me the alto line of "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World!"). He sang in a men's choir all through college and has sung at more weddings than I can count.

As you can imagine, I had sweet daydreams about hearing my husband sing our new baby to sleep with his dreamy voice, perhaps even accompanied by the guitar. Wouldn't that just be lovely?

In those first couple of weeks with Riggins, we definitely endured our stretches of newborn crying. We traded off soothing duties, taking turns bouncing, swaying, shh-ing, swaddling, and singing our little man to eventual sleep.

I was enjoying a break from the crying and Jonathan had taken over with Riggs in the nursery. Suddenly, I heard his booming voice--much more theatrical than his typical singing voice--coming down the hall...

"Ooooohhhhh, I wish I was in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten! Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land!"

Ummm....ok.

When this stirring rendition of my high school fight song died down, there was a brief pause before the next song began...

"Fat bottomed girls, you make this rockin' world go 'round!"

And after that...

"Aisha, you were the girl that I never had, and I want to get to know you better...Aisha, you know I want you so bad...."

Followed by the entire Boyz II Men repertoire, complete with the deep-voiced talking parts.

Not exactly the sweet, soothing lullabies I had in mind, but desperate times call for desperate measures. If you're going to be singing to a crying baby for hours on end, you might as well entertain yourself!

And speaking of entertainment, one of my husband's other talents is the ability to make up songs on a whim with perfect melodies and rhyme. I'm convinced that he could make a good living as a jingle writer. Of course, Riggs has become the beneficiary of a few personalized tunes. My personal favorite is an R&B number about feeding, including this line:

"R-I-Double G, give me those Double-Deeeeeeeeees!"

I tell you what...this parenting thing is pretty fun, especially with this guy. It is hard to cry in frustration when you're too busy laughing over songs you haven't heard in ten years and raps about your chest.