writinggal: Sharing Mommy’s Musical Memories

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Sharing Mommy’s Musical Memories

We were having big probs at bath time. Leo didn’t like to take baths anymore and basically screamed throughout the process. He wouldn’t even sit in the tub, just stood there while we tortured him. It was agonizing for everyone.

So last week I had a “Come to Jesus” talk with him. I said, “What can we do to make bath time go better? Could we add bubbles? Would you prefer to take a shower?” He didn’t like either of those ideas. Then, for some reason I remembered this song I used to listen to on a record when I was little. It was Bert and Ernie in the bath tub singing, “Everybody wash.” I started singing it to Leo and he perked up. I then searched for it on YouTube and showed it to him. This is the first one I found which was good because it had visuals but it wasn’t the exact song I remembered:

Then I found the actual song that I remembered so vividly. Only it was a video of someone playing it on their 8-track cassette player! (Old alert.) At first Leo didn’t like it because you couldn’t see Bert and Ernie but it grew on him. Now we play each of these videos before bath and bath time is so much more enjoyable! There’s no crying; he loves it again. (He also confessed that he prefers to be washed without a wash rag which has helped the process.) Bert and Ernie are pretty funny if you listen to it, way ahead of their time comically.

Then the other day he wanted a treat for going potty but it was right before nap and I didn’t want to give him sugar. I said, “Maybe there’s another song that mommy can find…” and I thought of “Moving Right Along” from the Muppet Movie. Now we watch this video at least twice a day, just for fun. I think it’s the catchiest, cutest song and I pretty much remember all the words from my Muppet Movie record! I had a Muppet-themed party for my third birthday so I think it’s perfect that Leo likes them just as he’s about to turn three.