Singing
Singing is one of the most powerful tools a parent has in his/her arsenal. When times are at their most desperate and I'm about to lose my mind only through song can I keep insanity at bay. Of course what I'm talking about is the dreaded car rides. Before kids, I used to think my voice was out of tune, off rhythm and just plain awful. I was emotionally scared by some pretty horrible karaoke experiences and have vowed to avoid signing outside my head if at all possible. Of course when your child is in the back seat, strapped in, screaming his/her head off it's amazing how quickly you're willing to try absolutely anything to quite them down. And when I say anything of course I mean singing. It's really quite amazing, for both Nicholas and Juliette my voice would sooth them to a point of quite contentment every time. I would belt out songs like three green and speckled frogs, the littlest worm, old MacDonald and the little monsters would transform back into angels almost immediately. As a result, I can sign the entire CD, Polka Dot Pony by Fred Penner, off by heart. I figure, if I'm stuck singing, I might as well sing songs that I enjoy. For some reason playing the CD itself has almost no effect on the children unless they are already calm. Neither does playing country, hip hop, classical or anything else for that matter. But even the most out of tune song coming from their parents will do the job. We also use song in the bedtime routine and during the odd excursion. So I suggest that any new parent out there brush up on their favorite childhood songs before the next car ride.