Personalizing Your Favorite Songs

February 24, 2010 | Author ajpassey

Sammi at 18 months

We love to sing songs in our house. I know I’ve told dozens of stories of when, where, how we sing songs, but I just have to share a few more! I mentioned on Monday that I’m fighting off a cold I got from Elli. Monday evening my voice decided to get in on the game and has been rough and rascally ever since. Plus my ears are slightly stuffy so I sound rather hollow to myself which complicates my ability to sing.

We usually sing the girls a few songs at bedtime. Monday night my voice wasn’t so far gone yet so I was able to make it through the singing just fine. But by the end of yesterday my voice was just tired and when I went to sing to the girls last night, my voice was cracking high and low. About halfway through the “first” song I looked down at Elli (whom I still snuggle for one song before putting her in her crib) and she had this look on her face that was part puzzled and part disappointed in my singing. She recognized that I didn’t sound like myself and that I wasn’t singing well at all. So the “first” song turned into the only song.

One of the songs we sing just about every night we’ve personalized with the girls’ names. It’s Jesus Once Was a Little Child. One line says, “So, little children, let’s you and I try to be like Him.” The first time I heard my grandma sing this song to Sammi she sang, “So, Little Samantha” and it was like a new world opened to me. I hadn’t thought to change words to include Sammi’s name. Now we sing, “So, Elli and Sammi” to include both girls.

Another favorite is Ram, Sam, Sam. This one was an obvious fit for Sammi since her name is already in the song. But we took it one step further and changed all the words to fit our family. Here’s the original with our actions first, followed by our personalized version.

A Ram Sam Sam

A ram sam sam A ram sam sam Gully gully gully gully gully Ram sam sam	Clap hands Clap hands Roll hands Clap hands
A ram sam sam A ram sam sam Gully gully gully gully gully Ram sam sam	Clap hands Clap hands Roll hands Clap hands
A raffi, A raffi Gully gully gully gully gully Ram sam sam	Make circle with one hand on first Raffi then with other hand on second Raffi Roll hands Clap hands

Passey Version

A Mom, Sam, Sam
A Mom, Sam, Sam
Elli, Elli, Elli, Elli, Elli
Mom, Sam, Sam

A Daddy, a Daddy
Elli, Elli, Elli, Elli, Elli
Mom, Sam, Sam

For other songs, we randomly change words to fit our situation. This is especially true of Dora’s songs. We sing “Where are we going?” just about anytime we are “going” anywhere, from the library to the kitchen for a snack. We also sing her “We did it!” song a lot. It’s been a great practice for Sammi because she’s starting to come up with variations all by herslef that actually fit the rhythm of the song.