Car Serenade

I love to hear the little guy sing. He's loud and energetic and I can't get enough of it. However, he only sings when he's in the mood. When I ask, he'll often say, "No, thank you," or "Maybe later." Then the day came when I got more. Lots more. On his last visit, the little guy, one of his aunts and I took a two-hour car ride to see my mom. That's a long time for him to sit, but the first half hour passed easily as we kept him on the lookout for cranes and other construction vehicles. When we ran out of those, I asked him if he'd sing some songs for his aunt and he was agreeable. The first one he called a chicken song, and he belted out, "I know a chicken, it lay-ayed an egg." That was the entire song. Then he volunteered, "I know a baby shark song." We said we'd never heard of a baby shark song, so he sang, "Baaaaby shark, doot doot-doot doot doot. Baby shark, doot, doot-doot doot doot. Maaaama shark, doot doot-doot doot doot, Mama shark doot doot-doot doot doot." The song continues through Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa shark, followed by several verses, including "Let's go hunting," "Run and hide," and a few others I'm not clear on, because he rarely got to them. Over and over again he'd get to Grandpa shark and then circle back to Baby shark. We tried not to laugh, but it wasn't easy. At one point, my daughter had tears running down her face, and the little guy stopped the serenade to ask, "Are you crying?" We explained that sometimes when you're very happy tears leak out. My daughter then found the song on YouTube and we all listened to the professional version. When it was done, the little guy said, "I like mine better." We agreed and he started singing again. I'm not talented enough to drive, listen, not laugh and count all at once. I lost track around seventeen repetitions. It was a miniature musical version of "Groundhog Day." And I loved every minute of it.