Saturday, January 17, 2009

Swinging

When she was an infant, KD swung her, on his arm, in the infant car seat. Although we had no money, I ordered him to buy a swing on his way home the next day. We set it up immediately. She was in heaven and only about a week or so old. She had a mild case of reflux so she had to sleep on an incline. So began the sleeping in the car seat routine. Then we reclined the seat of the swing, put it on low, depending on her mood, and she would sleep.

We always played music for her, she responded to it from those first days home. Some days she had a need for speed and we would strap her in, recline the seat, and crank up the swing. On those days I played loud percussion laden music. She napped like a champ.

Recently, we watched A Bug's Life, and saw a trailer for the Disney movie Tarzan. She looked up and said, "Mum, that is the music we have in the car." Of course she was right. It was one of the CDs we had in the car, albeit broken.

Driving her to school this week, we tried it out. The song that she had been singing since we saw A Bug's Life boomed from the speakers. I watched her in the rear view mirror as she swayed her head, with her eyes closed as she sang along, unfettered joy.

Her pure delight in the words and the melody touched me and amused me. It also made me wonder. We played that CD constantly in her infancy. However, we rarely play that CD now and if we do, only in the car. Since it is broken it obviously doesn't get a lot of play time. Could her mind some how some way know that song?
She is still untouched by the social pressures that inevitably render us guarded. She is full of love, wonder and compassion. I know the day will come, much too son, when she will no longer live these virtues out loud and until then, she will sing and sway 'til her hearts content. And as she does, I will look on as my heart swells.

1 comment:

Happy Valley Mom said...

That was beautiful!!

A keeper!!

Save it to show her when she has kids of her own