Lullaby.. rocking in the rocking chair

When the boys were babies, they grew up on Rock and roll Lullabies. Both Ashley and I would rock the boys to sleep… much against any child rearing wisdom that said..”lay them down and let them fuss their way to sleep.” I think our method was not so much for the boys as it was for us.
It was that moment out of a hectic day when that squirming bundle of arms nd legs settled down into a warm, irresistible child. We had a rocking chair I the bedroom. We would sit there, boy on arms, and sing song after song. Some nights, it went very quickly. A story book, or a made up tale, then the tunes. Ashley loved to sing Peter, paul and Mary’s “Puff the Magic Dragon” and “Eternal Flame” by the Bangles. Fletch would ask for “Close your eyes..” .. the first line of “Eternal Flame.”
Close your eyes, Momma! Close your eyes!” MY choices tended more toward the Beatles and the Monkees. I often sang “Mother nature’s Son,“ and “I Will” from the White Album. The Monkess were poured into their little brains with tunes like “I’m A Believer” and “What Am I Doping Hanging Round.” I also sang Todd Rundgren’s “A Dream Goes ON Forever.” Some nights, I would lay on the bed and listen as Ashley sang softly to either Fletch or Corwin. Patting their backs, bumping them up and down as the drifted away on the tunes of old songs until, at last, snoring softly, limp, they could be laid in the crib. As warm as freshly baked bread, and the smell of a just bathed baby, it was a good step toward sleep for us as well. I often wonder today, if the boys heard those songs, would they begin to doze? Would it be a good idea for a sleep aid on those sleepless nights, to hear the songs our mother or father sand g to us, to float us, reluctantly, from the busy world of awake on soft bed of rhythm? I know that my mother would sing to me, “Marianne”, a calypso song that was on the charts twice… once in 1946 and again the year after I was born. All day all night is Mary Ann,
Down by the seaside, sifting sand. Even little children love Mary Ann, Down by the seaside, sifting sand.
But, I guess even children can become music critics. As Corwin grew older, one evening as I started to sing, he put his little chubby hand to my mouth and said, “No Daddy. Don’t sing.” So much for my delusion that I sounded like Paul McCartney.
I always thought of the BJ Thomas song, “Rock and Roll Lullaby.” And she'd sing Sha-na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na It'll be all righ tSha-na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na Jus t Hold On Tight , Sing it to me, mama My, my, my, my, mama Sing it sweet and clear Oh mama, let me hear That old rock and roll lullaby “Rock and Roll Lullabye” BJ Thomas