Micah and Christine

Putting Charlotte to bed is so different than it used to be. I vividly remember night after night after night of Micah and me taking turns pacing the floor, hoping to put our little girl to bed. We would shush and rock and often, sing. We had a variety of songs. Micah had a special song that he sang to her, and I somehow settled on a song from Cinderella. 

So, as I was circling the house, jiggling that tiny daughter in my arms, I sang about a sweet nightingale.

Hopefully my version is more Cinderella than Drizella.

Somewhere around her one-year birthday, Charlotte started hating the nightingale song. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but as I would put her to bed, if I ever started singing that song, she became very distressed. I think she knew that it meant bedtime, and that did not make her happy! For months I didn't sing to her, and we tried many other strategies for putting her to bed.

A few months ago Charlotte became increasingly interested in singing songs she'd been learning at school, especially the ABC song. We started including family singing time into our routine, and had lots of fun singing as a family. So one night, as I was trying to put her to bed, I decided to try the nightingale song again. She became quiet, and listened. No protestation now, just enjoying the song.

So we're back to singing Sing Sweet Nightingale on occasion. We mix it up with lots of other songs that we sing, but this one still holds special significance to me as the song I sang to her as a newborn. 

On this rainy night, I cozied with my girl to help her go to bed. I stood up to leave, but she was not quite asleep, so she said "Mommy," and patted the bed next to her. I drew close, and sang to my girl like I have so many nights before. She gave me soft, reassuring pats to show her appreciation. And my heart just swelled with love for my little girl.