One of the things my son does is sing things that he wants to communicate to me…but without taking ownership of what he is singing about. Let me set the stage here so you can better understand where I am getting at with this:



We’re in the car. We’ve just been playing at the inflatable jump house place for about two hours and I am completely exhausted and need to get home so I can rest after chasing him around for a couple of hours, making sure he wasn’t climbing on the wrong parts of the inflatables or fighting over balls with the other kids and etcetera and etcetera. My son was obviously not ready to go and made it quite clear that he did not WANT to go, but I gave him an ultimatum of either he leaves with me right then and there, or the next time we have the opportunity to go, we won’t actually go and he will get to stay home and play with a sponge or something. Needless to say, he knows that playing with sponges just doesn’t equal the joy of being at the inflatable jump house, so he agrees to leave.

So, as we are driving, I can tell he’s a bit annoyed at me but I know it’s better to let him sulk than to try and change his mood. After a little while, the silence in the car is broken by the sound of his soft little voice singing a quiet little song. The tune is unfamiliar to me but I can make out the words:

“Daddy don’t let Rerun play. Rerun want to go to Jump Zone. Daddy don’t let Rerun play.”

So there he is, singing a song about how I won’t let him play anymore and with the scowl on his face I know he thinks I’m a big poopie-head for not letting him stay longer. So, of course, I have to defend myself.

“Rerun, Daddy let you play there for a little more than two hours. I think that was more than enough time for you but you are not being very grateful about it.” And at this, my son stops singing and looks to me without missing a beat and says:

“Daddy, Rerun just singing song. Daddy don’t talk about. Rerun just sing song.”

*sigh* He’s JUST SINGING A SONG. Who am I to take offense to an innocent little medley that my boy is merely singing for pure enjoyment? It’s just a gleeful little diddy about childhood joy and gumdrop waterfalls and rainbow butterflies and HOW DADDY IS A BIG MEANIE AND WON’T LET HIS SON PLAY AT THE INFLATABLE JUMP HOUSE! Man, what an ASS I am? To interrupt his playful singing to be defensive about something he wasn’t even saying because when you say it in song, it really isn’t true. It doesn’t mean anything at all.

I. Am. Just. Being. Too. Sensitive.

Okay. I get it. I was completely out of line for being defensive. That makes sense.

“Oh, so sorry, Ran. My mistake. I’ll not say anything more about it.” And I don’t. He seems to be okay now. Daddy apologized for taking his little song the wrong way. And I am over it. In fact, I feel happy. So happy that I start singing my own little song:

“Rerun is being a spoiled little poo-head. He doesn’t show appreciation for what his Daddy’s done. Maybe next time, we won’t go to the jump house. Instead, Rerun will have very little fun…when Daddy decides to stay home. And clean the house instead. Maybe then, Rerun will be a little nicer instead of a poo-head.”

“Daddy, don’t say stay home! Rerun don’t like stay home!”

“What, Ran? What was that? Oh, I’m sorry. You misunderstand. I was just singing a song. I wasn’t directing it at you at all. Geez, not sure why you’re getting your Underoos in such a bunch.”

Yeah, we’re going to have a good relationship over time.