The Return of Vaudeville, or Music Soothes the Savage Beast

I have a confession. I put E.'s crib back together. I just couldn't take anymore. Apparently neither could she. She very visibly relaxed when I put her back in. This is the girl who wanted to be tightly swaddled until she was about 8 months old. I guess there is a certain comfort in the confinement of a crib. But we had gotten into a bad cycle of staying up late and not napping. So last night, I put her to bed at 8:30. She was very exhausted. So she did her usually hysterics, but I wouldn't let her out. So I started singing. After a few rounds of "You are my Sunshine" she started to calm. I'm not sure what song came next, but it was enough for her to release her vice-like grip on me and stop crying. I figured I was on to something. So I went into my very limited repertoire of children's songs. If you say a first line, I actually know quite a number of these, but left to my own devices, I can remember about five. At the end of that five she was sitting down. So I launched into my favorite children's church songs. After "Jesus Loves Me" and "Jesus loves the Little Children" I got stuck. Sudden Inspiration!!. "Father Abraham!" For those of you unfamiliar with this classic, it involves ever increasing body motions. She actually laid down to watch the show. She would occasionally grin at my antics. Ok, I thought, time to slow it down(after all, isn't that what happens in a lot of worship services, you sing fast, you sing slow). So I sang "It is well with my soul." Her blinks became heavy. After a few rounds of the previous I got into the chorus of "How Great Thou Art." She took that last breath of relaxation and her eyes closed a final time.

There were two things I got out of this. 1. She was asleep before 9:00 for the first time in over a week. 2. A pretty good little worship time for myself.

It's nice to win sometimes.