Because I have an interest in music, it is inevitable that I would use it to entertain and soothe the child.
When she was a few months old, people lied to us that she’d sleep if we drove her around in the car. Even when she finally did sleep, it would never be more than an hour, then she’d wail. In defense, I’d sing “Old McDonald”, with a wild range of animals (bear, elephant, fox); stopping to catch my breath would mean more crying. That was her favorite, along with a variant on BINGO: “There was a family, had a girl, and Lydia was her name. Oh, L-Y-D-I-A…”
A lot of it was whatever came came to mind at the moment: Here Comes Lydia (Right Down Lydia Lane); Lydia, You Are My Favorite Daughter (think Herman’s Hermits), and many more.
But two seemed to last. Particularly when I was with Lydia, and Lydia wanted to nurse, thee was this version of Eli’s Coming (probably the Three Dog Night version of the Laura Nyro song):
Mommy’s coming, hold your horses (X2)
Girl, Mommy’s a-comin’, you better wait (X3)
Girl, Mommy’s coming. Hold your horses
Better, better wait your turn
Mommy’s coming, and she’ll feed you
And she’ll nmake you real strong
and she’ll give you good nutrition
She’ll give you just what you need
Every single da-ay
But my favorite
I love Lydia (X2),
’cause she is my daughter, oh yeah,
’cause she is my daughter.
But what was the TUNE? Actually, in the very beginning, I could not remember. Then I figured it out. It was a tune that got all the way up to #66 on the Billboard charts in 1983. I must have picked up from a compilation, because I certainly own no albums by Toto Coelo. (In fact, I had to look up the group name AGAIN.)
Those of you up on obscure ’80s bands have probably figured out the song:
I eat cannibals. Oy. Well, the tune STILL works.
So, Lydia, my tuneful daughter, happy 17 months. I love how you dance when the stereo’s on. But STOP MESSING WITH THE DIALS!
