A children's song

I sing to my son all day long. Sometimes they're songs I know from my childhood, sometimes hymns, sometimes songs I make up. We listen to so much music. Classical plays in his bedroom. Anything on Daddy's iPod in the living room. Pandora everywhere else. I like to think that he's constantly in his own personal music education classroom.

That said, some of these songs I learned in my childhood have lyrics that I'm not sure I want my son to internalize.

One little, two little, three little...Indians? Um... I replace that with "children" or something similar, but it doesn't quite work at the end of the song. Sing it through. You'll know what I mean. "Ten little happy boys" might work as the last line.

Anyway, the song that stands out in my mind is a classic - "Jesus Loves the Little Children."All the children of the world. So far, so good. It's the third line that bugs me. "Red and yellow, black and white" just doesn't work anymore, if it ever did. People take offense to being labeled with a color. Besides, I'm not white. My skin is light peach. Or tan. With freckles. And blue veins and red-flushed cheeks.

So I changed the words. Here's the original if you want to reference it. The first verse here is not entirely mine - I'm pretty sure it shows up in the blue Covenant Hymnal, but Hymnary doesn't have that information. However, I did make up a second verse.

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Every color, every race
They are covered by his grace
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Every country, everywhere
Jesus hears their every prayer
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

I'm working on coming up with a third verse, but it might be a while before I get it just right. I'll just keep singing to my baby. He doesn't mind.

What do you think? Any songs you know from childhood that should be revamped for today's kids?

balloons!

I've always liked balloons. You, too? Punchy balloons, the ones that float with helium, balloon animals (but not the sound they make!), balloons tied to the mailbox because we're having a party, balloons to announce a new baby, the colorful plethora of balloons in the movie Up... The innocence of balloons is charming, childlike, and (insert other ch- word here. I'm out of ideas). I love that they defy gravity, and especially that people can soar all over in hot air balloons! It absolutely delights me when I spot one way up in a perfectly blue sky.
A few times lately, hot air balloons that have landed in the wide-open fields around our home. Here are two that I spotted as the sun was going down Friday night!

Lovely.

childhood memories

vanilla cupcakes
birthday parties
jump ropes
freeze tag
balloons
dirt under my fingernails
holding baby dolls
Christmas morning
feeling fuzzy wool carpet between my toes
shuffling along said carpet to shock my siblings
red Kool-Aid, and the one time Mom accidentally used salt
my yellow floral wallpaper
Crayons
writing silly poems
swinging on the swings Dad put in the basement
daydreaming
playing house
carrying my yellow duckie-shaped purse to Sunday School
singing in children's choir
writing on yellow paper with blue dotted lines
my purple zip-up fleece jacket
bright pink scrunchies
jumping in the leaves
Sesame Street
running and somersaulting onto the living room couch
dancing to "The Nutcracker" - in the living room
my pink doll beds that Daddy made
making cakes with Mommy
singing hymns at night before bed
all four of us kids brushing our teeth at the same time
footed pajamas - yellow, with Winnie the Pooh on the front
Saturday morning Bugs Bunny
archery with Dad
piano lessons
shopping with Mom
my grandparents
old church ladies
squeaky patent leather Mary Janes
an old toy organ
chalkboard drawings
climbing trees
trying to save little birds' eggs
kittens
sibling rivalry
snow play
long car trips
Disney World
"special sauce" - A1 and ketchup, mixed together
campfires and camping out
forget-me-nots
brown spots on my hands from picking dandelions
braiding my friends' hair
school ice cream socials
walking to elementary school
riding the bus - cold pleather seats and freezing windows
spelling bees
reports and projects
music class...

now that i'm off to grad school, it's pleasant to look back on what i was, where i've been, and what i've become because of it all.