Children's songs were a huge part of my childhood. My dad is definitely a music man, and there was always music of all kinds at our house.
My husband did not have the music experience (our version of "The Classics" is very different), and at first he thought all of the silly songs we sang at my parents' home were stupid. But he's always been a really good sport, and it wasn't long before he was a professional children's song singer.
We continued the tradition of singing songs with our children, especially when we were in the car. Our children have always been good travelers, but like anyone, they grew weary of long drives. So we would sing songs. To this day they call it "The Song Game." It's not really a game; everyone gets to take turns choosing the song we will sing. With six family members, three "rounds" of the song game can get you pretty far down the road. Our songs range from Primary songs to rounds to silly songs to repeat-after-me songs, and our repertoire has grown as the kids have gone to Scout and YW camps.
One of the rounds I learned as a child goes like this:
As a little boy, Taylor loved this song. T's birthday is in January, so he was in nursery from the time he was 18 months till he was nearly 4. He could talk really well, but he just thought the song was "Swink-Swink da Donkey." One day the nursery leader came to me, looking exasperated. She said, "You have to help me. Taylor gets so upset if we can't sing his favorite song, but I don't know what it is! I can't understand what he's saying." I started laughing, and said, "Is it 'Swink, Swink da Donkey'?" She looked instantly relieved and said, "Yes! That's what he's saying! What is that?" So I taught her the song. And everyone lived happily ever after.**
*You have to make sure to do the hand movements, too.
**Because who wouldn't be happier when they know that song?
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