spies

La Princesita and the Young Prince are spies today.

They are currently running through the house, various hats from Princesita's collection on their heads, sunglasses on faces, magnifying glasses in hand, looking for "clues"...

Once in a while a random door shuts with intensity. Not slams, but there is purpose. A mission.

Mine must be to ensure my entire home is not trashed in this game.

*----*

A magical thing occurs at night when the children are tuckered out. They cuddle up, we read stories and then they want me to sing to them. They always ask for "The Pony Song." It goes like this:

Hush a bye, don't you cry
Go to sleep my little babies
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses.

In your head, Momma said
Baby's riding off to dreamland
One by one, they've begun
Prance and dance for little baby.

Blacks and bays, dapples and grays
Running through the night
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses.

Can you see the little horses
Dance before your eyes?
All the pretty little horses
Will be there when you arise.

So--hush a bye, don't you cry
Go to sleep my little babies
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses.

This I sing in a minor key. Haunting but calming, deep, my alto range enjoys this in the nighttime hours. I sang this to each of them, as a sort of an experiment, and also to calm myself at times, during my pregnancies. It so turned out that, when I would begin to sing this when they were both newborn, they would immediately calm down and listen to the song; indeed, they recognized it and my voice. One night, when the Young Prince was but four weeks old, I was traveling at night with him and a friend in the car. He would not cease to cry so I excused myself and just started singing to him that very song. He could not see me, as I was in the front seat driving, but the sound of my voice calmed him so that he could stop screaming--and my friend was amazed.

When I sing this, the neatest things occur, as did last night. The Young Prince will cuddle up with his sister, or with me, nuzzle up like a fawn would nuzzle with the top of its head, start to caress his sister's hair and tell her that he loves her. She will embrace him. They become so loving of each other, so tolerant of each other's desire to share the other's personal space for their last waking moments of their day. I just sit back, sing, watch the magic, and hope that this will help them to be the closest of siblings as they grow throughout life.

The minor key is funny; I've always been attracted to music in minor due to the range of emotions it evokes in me, however difficult it might be to play or master scales in minor (and I HATED doing scales...I only ever whipped them out for auditions, and when I could get away with it, I skipped them!). Now, when I sit down to play (excuse me, TRY to play) the Mozart "Twinkle Twinkle" variations on the piano, guess which is their favorite?

"Mommy, play the Halloween one!"

I have SO prejudiced them against nice, clean resolution and major, upbeat tones. Ja!

Good for me!