The First Legal High

Singing is a good way to keep Abbie entertained, especially when I have my hands full of squirming babies. I have several songs I can sing off the top of my head: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep,” “The Alphabet Song.” My favorite song to sing to her, though, is “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” That’s the song that goes “If you’re happy and you know it (insert action here),” followed by everyone involved performing (insert action here). The (insert action here) generally starts with clapping, and can then progress to all sorts of stuff from stomping feet, to shouting hooray, to dusting the living room.

What I like about the song is the actions keep Abbie occupied. For example, if she’s trying to commandeer a twin’s bottle, I can start singing and she’ll immediately bolt upright and start clapping at the appropriate spot. Unfortunately the song moves quickly, and I only have about a dozen commands she recognizes. When I cycle through all of them and my instruction “touch your shoulders” is met with a blank stare, Abbie returns to grabbing a bottle, chewing on a remote, taunting the dog, or whatever naughty activity she was doing when I distracted her.

I’m always looking for new ways for her to show me she’s happy, which is why I was pleased to see her spinning in place. Now I can prod her to demonstrate her happiness by marching in place, dancing in place, or spinning in place. Best of all, by the time I convince her to spin in place a few times, she needs a minute to regain her balance. After finding her orientation, she usually forgets what she was doing before we started singing. I feel a little guilty going to this big gun because I don’t think she likes the sensation of being dizzy; if she falls, she usually lays on the floor whimpering until she can stand again. Still, I believe that being temporarily dizzy is better for her long-term emotional well being than being scolded, and the result can be a happiness that she can show by (insert action here).