Who knew that Baby Lemon Bear and Rosie Bear would want to rock the house? Wee Lass and I discovered that tonight as we were in the cool down phase before lights out. Tonight was a bath night, and on those nights it is ritual for me to read to her, then she plays a few games with The Spouse. The finale to the ritual is that I tuck her in and we play ‘The Guessing Game’ or ‘Something Hilarious’ (I’ll explain at a later date). While Wee Lass was enjoying her games with Le Mom, I was listening to my new iPod on the earbuds. When it came time to tuck in, Wee Lass asked me what I was doing.
“I’m listening to music, sweetie.”
“Why? What are those? It’s quiet, daddy.”
“Those are earphones.”
“Why are you on earphones?”
“So I can hear the music, sweet pea.”
“Oh. Can Baby Lemon Bear listen?”
Baby Lemon Bear is a small yellow stuffed bear, and one of my girl’s current favorite stuffed companions. For some bizarre reason it is striped and has a hood like a Jawa. I held the earbuds up to Lemon Bear’s ears. Wee Lass grinned and she started making the bear dance to the music. The song was “Dr. Robert” by the Beatles. “How about Rosie Bear?” Rosie Bear is bigger, and fairly normal as stuffed bears go, aside from having pink fur. She got the name from the Spanish word for pink. So I held up the earbuds for Rosie. Wee Lass started giggling, and we all started dancing.
“Lemme hear, Daddy!” When I held the earbuds up to her ears she started laughing and squirming and bouncing on the bed. She reared her head back, “That tickles! Lemon Bear wants to hear again!” So I did it again. “Rosie Bear!” More giggles and dancing. “Me! I wanna hear!” Her again, this time listening to “Don’t Let’s Start” by They Might Be Giants. This produced an even stronger laughing fit. She claimed it tickled too much, but she kept asking to listen to the music. The final cycle had Baby Lemon Bear, Rosie Bear, Wee Lass and myself dancing on the bed and on the ottoman (I was sitting; tired, man) in front of the recliner in her bedroom. The song: “Natty Kung Fu” by a reggae artist calling himself Dillinger. Great song!
At this point, she was ecstatic and having a lot of fun. More precisely, we were all having a blast. Music means a lot to me these days, and it was such joy to see Wee Lass really digging it along with me. The reggae in particular really lit her up. Before I finally turned out the light, we spent a minute leafing through the album artwork on the iPod screen. She thought it was pretty cool. I know that there is a tendency these days to think that technology is putting filters between people, making it more difficult for people to engage each other on a human level. On this night, in that moment, I believe the opposite was true. Me and Wee Lass were comin’ at each other live, kickin’ it freestyle. And that, as they say, was priceless.
“dey kick a like lightnin’,
In de kung fu fightin’…
…
…roses are red, love,
and violets dey blue,
..sugar is sweet, love,
but not as sweet as you!”
(In case anyone is curious, I got “Natty Kung Fu” off of a disc labeled ‘Studio 1 DJ’s’, issued by a company in the UK. I borrowed the cd from a friendly former co-worker, just before she gave birth to her own daughter, earlier this year. Thanks, S!)
“I’m listening to music, sweetie.”
“Why? What are those? It’s quiet, daddy.”
“Those are earphones.”
“Why are you on earphones?”
“So I can hear the music, sweet pea.”
“Oh. Can Baby Lemon Bear listen?”
Baby Lemon Bear is a small yellow stuffed bear, and one of my girl’s current favorite stuffed companions. For some bizarre reason it is striped and has a hood like a Jawa. I held the earbuds up to Lemon Bear’s ears. Wee Lass grinned and she started making the bear dance to the music. The song was “Dr. Robert” by the Beatles. “How about Rosie Bear?” Rosie Bear is bigger, and fairly normal as stuffed bears go, aside from having pink fur. She got the name from the Spanish word for pink. So I held up the earbuds for Rosie. Wee Lass started giggling, and we all started dancing.
“Lemme hear, Daddy!” When I held the earbuds up to her ears she started laughing and squirming and bouncing on the bed. She reared her head back, “That tickles! Lemon Bear wants to hear again!” So I did it again. “Rosie Bear!” More giggles and dancing. “Me! I wanna hear!” Her again, this time listening to “Don’t Let’s Start” by They Might Be Giants. This produced an even stronger laughing fit. She claimed it tickled too much, but she kept asking to listen to the music. The final cycle had Baby Lemon Bear, Rosie Bear, Wee Lass and myself dancing on the bed and on the ottoman (I was sitting; tired, man) in front of the recliner in her bedroom. The song: “Natty Kung Fu” by a reggae artist calling himself Dillinger. Great song!
At this point, she was ecstatic and having a lot of fun. More precisely, we were all having a blast. Music means a lot to me these days, and it was such joy to see Wee Lass really digging it along with me. The reggae in particular really lit her up. Before I finally turned out the light, we spent a minute leafing through the album artwork on the iPod screen. She thought it was pretty cool. I know that there is a tendency these days to think that technology is putting filters between people, making it more difficult for people to engage each other on a human level. On this night, in that moment, I believe the opposite was true. Me and Wee Lass were comin’ at each other live, kickin’ it freestyle. And that, as they say, was priceless.
“dey kick a like lightnin’,
In de kung fu fightin’…
…
…roses are red, love,
and violets dey blue,
..sugar is sweet, love,
but not as sweet as you!”
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"Let your laws come undone
Don't suffer your crimes
Let the love in your heart take control..."
-'The Hair Song', by Black Mountain
Tell me what is in your heart...