The where's and why's of lullabies.
We have a hammock in the backyard and Audrey, 3, had always wanted the Rock a Bye Baby lullaby sung to her as we swung her to and fro. As I was singing this for the 1007th time I thought about the words.
Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop When the wind blows, the cradle will rock When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall And down will come baby, cradle and all
Cheerful... Not!
We had a little sea tornado come off the coast a few months ago which literally split enormous trees in half and flung branches and trampolines around our neighbourhood. At my sisters place they lost five solid native trees, a car, a caravan and a shed. Audrey no longer asks for that lullaby. The words, seemingly innocuous sung at a lilting slow pace pre tornado, now signify terror and boughs breaking and consequently babies falling for real. Some of this stuff does stick.
Now I’m all for a good ditty but when you dig deeper there’s all sorts of darkness pervading the lullabies we grew up with, and those are even watered down versions of original fairytales and lullabies that are darker still! (See article links below).
As a kid with an active imagination I’d conjure up all sorts of icky scenarios lying in bed and although I think occasionally children love a good scare, it can leave a resounding echo of fear which pops up in the night. If Audrey comes to me and says ‘I’m scared Mummy’ I take her seriously. Because for a littlie in the midst of a visitation from a monster or ghoul it can be a vivid and devastating affair. Cuddles, lights on, nice stories. Stat!
Last night I was really chuffed when Audrey requested mummy and Abigail’s e-picturebook. It really made me feel great about the work we have put in, even to get one calmed, rested little girl for one night it was worth it! We’re ready to submit the book to iBooks and once it’s passed all the tech checks we’ll be sending it out to our followers. We hope you get at least one peaceful nights sleep as a result too.
Trace
Here’s a great insight into the origins of some… Lullabies PBS Article
