I mentioned in my last post that Aaron and I do "books and rock-a-bye's" at bedtime. The last thing we do before he lays down is sing songs. Much like most things, he has cycles of favorites. About a week ago, he asked me to sing 'Old MacDonald Had A Farm', which is not one he had chosen before.
I started to sing using the normal farm animals. After the first 3 animals, I suddenly couldn't think of any more! I stammered for a bit and then said the first animal that came to mind...a monkey. Aaron looked up at me with this silly grin and said, "Not a MONKEY!"
I started to laugh and asked, "Not a monkey? How come?". He gave me several reasons, like the fact that they swing in trees and live in the jungle. I finally said, "Okay, okay, okay" (using a silly tone of voice), and chose another actual farm animal. (Thank goodness I'd come up with another one by then.) ;)
Since then, it's been the "Funny MacDonald's" song every night. I've started to incorporate animals from different areas and we talk about where each of them lives as part of the reason they can't be on the farm. Sometimes, I'll even throw in a dolphin, whale or shark. Oh, and when I do choose an actual farm animal, I make funny faces while making the animal sound. Aaron loves that part, too.
This is one time I'm glad my memory wasn't so great because it started a great new tradition!
