A happy song

Sometimes we change the words to poems and songs to suit our mood. For example, Rachel has this book of poems that she absolutely loves. The first poem in the book is a poem entitled Singing Time by Rose Fyleman.

I wake in the morning early
And always, the very first thing,
I poke out my head and I sit up in bed
And I sing and I sing and I sing.

Instead of reading it that way, however, this morning I read it like this:

I wake in the morning early
And always, the very first thump,
I poke out my head and I sit up in bed
And I grump and I grump and I grump.

This morning, see, started out on the wrong foot and Rachel was a little grumpy and I was a little grumpy. We’re doing fine now that it’s the afternoon and I’ve had a little nap under my belt.

Rachel didn’t have a nap, but a darling young woman in our ward has decided it was time she mature the theme of her bedroom, which means getting rid of some of her more juvenile toys, among them a beautiful My Little Pony castle. She dropped by with it this afternoon. Rachel’s basically entertained now.

She has a baby Little Pony now, in addition to the ponies that she and Miriam got for Christmas, as well as the castle and a bunch of accessories. I don’t think we’ll be able to take it back to the States with us because it’s so huge, but Rachel will certainly enjoy it for the rest of the time we’re here!

We also got some glow-in-the-dark stars which we’ve already put up all over Rachel’s room. We’re hoping that they’ll help her cope with us turning off the lights when we go to bed. We wait until we’re sure she’s asleep before switching them off but the minute we flick the switch she shrieks from her room,

“No! I want them on! Turn on the lights! I can’t see!”

It doesn’t matter if it’s ten o’clock at night or one o’clock in the morning. She’s sensitive to changes in her sleeping environment, I guess, but maybe the stars will help her cope. I’m getting sick of leaving the “hallway” light on because we don’t exactly have a hall, so it means we’re leaving the living room light on. But it’s that or no sleep at all because she won’t sleep in the dark.

She never had a problem with it before, but all of a sudden has started demanding that a light be left on. All. Night. Long. It doesn’t matter how many songs I sing, how long I hold her, if she has her favorite blankey…she still needs the light on.

One of her favorite songs before bed (and throughout the day) remains A Happy Song, which Grandma introduced to us when she was staying here to help out with baby Miriam. Since Rachel likes it so much and we sing it so often we’ve experimented with adding different verses.

Bees in the hive buzz a happy song
Elephants trumpet the whole day long
Giraffes with long necks and monkeys in treetops
All join in singing a happy song.

Rachel is singing a happy song,
Singing with Mommy the whole day long.
Miriam wiggles and starts to giggle.
Soon she’ll join in with our happy song!

How about a Cairo verse?

Camels are grunting a happy song
Balady cats yowl the whole night long
Stray dogs and muezzins and even the car horns
All join in singing a happy song.

I could do this all day long. Oh, wait. I do do this all day long.

There are worse things I could be singing, I suppose, like Elmo’s song (which was the theme song of Reid and Jacob’s stay with us, much to Karen’s chagrin) but even after these little angels are put to bed I’m still stuck singing a happy song.

Right now my happy song is:

Both of my children are in their beds
That gives me some time to clear my head.
But no matter what I read, sing, or think of
All I can hear is this happy song!

What’s your happy song?