The topic on The Sound of Music brings me fondly to all the wonderful songs in the musical.

Of them, one brings particular memory of how I started our son on singing (I am waiting for my wife to correct me on this!), and that is “EDELWEISS“.

When our son Jadon was younger (he’s turning 3 in a month’s time), we used to (are still) pat him to bed. And as I did so, I would sing him either “Edelweiss” or a very dated Chinese song called “Mo Li Hua”.

And as I sang to him, I would intentionally leave out the last word/syllable of each line for him to fill up. And he would almost always sing it correctly.

Here’s how it goes :

Edel “weiss”
Edel “weiss”

Every morning you greet “Me”
Small and “white”
Clean and “bright”
You look happy to meet “me”

Blossom of snow may you bloom and “grow”
Bloom and grow fore”ver”

Edel”weiss”
Edel”weiss”
Bless my homeland fore”ver”

Now, this cheeky little monster can not only sing the full songs, but has also started twisting the lyrics of songs to suit his own “creativity”!

The Sound of Music is one of my all-time favorite musicals. I have watched  it countless times and never once got bored.   The lead actress Julie Andrews is of course someone I truly enjoy watching.

Here’s an urban myth that went around about her 69th birthday celebration. (She should be 73 come Oct 1, 2008)

Here goes :

“To commemorate her birthday, actress/vocalist, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP.

One of the musical numbers she performed was My Favorite Things from the legendary movie Sound Of Music.

Here are the revised lyrics used:

(Sing It!) -

‘My Favorite Things’

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Cadillacs and cataracts, and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pain, confused brains and no need for sinnin’,
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin’,
And we won’t mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache, When the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I’ve had,
And then I don’t feel so bad.

(Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted over four minutes and repeated encores.)”

Myth nor not, the person who re-wrote the lyrics sure have some sense of creativity and humor!   I am sure Julie Andrews would have chuckled when she heard this remake!

Here’s the Original “My Favorite Things”

I bought my son a pictorial book on the Three Little Pigs recently. And boy was I surprised to find that this version had the first two pigs eaten by the big bad wolf!

I have grown up listening to the ‘less sinister" version where the first pig ran to the second pig’s house, and subsequently ran together to the third and more illustrious pig’s house, where they then boiled the big bad wolf in hot water for a happy ending.

But I am told the "eaten up" version is the original. And that in some versions, the third pig actually cooks and eats the wolf up in some sort of revenge!

Not sure about you, but I sure prefer the HAPPY ENDING version of the THREE LITTLE PIGS!

I am as much a sucker for toys as most children. Especially for Playmobil and Lego, my knees basically go weak at the sight of them.

Not so much my son though. For him, anything with four wheels is his "weakness". He absolutely ADORES cars. And needless to say, he LURRRRRRVES the DISNEY PIXAR MOVIE : CARS.

For his recent REWARD trip, I have actually set aside about $60~$80 for a toy of his choice..thinking that he would pick up a Playmobil Campervan which I have egging him on for days to like it.

When we got to the shop, before I could even interest him on the whole array of Playmobil on the shelf, he was already transfixed by a simple 6 inches long Fire Engine (for which its doors can’t even be opened!) placed along the path towards my beloved Playmobils.

No cajoling was possible to "lure" him away that Fire Truck. He doesn’t want to move on to the other shelfs and just simply wanted that !@#$% FIRE TRUCK!

I was caught off guard by his preference. My wife reminded me quietly that we wanted to get him a toy of his choice. So we eventually bought him that !@#$% FIRE TRUCK. Damn $10 Fire Truck.

He was overjoyed. I was devastated.

LESSON LEARNT
Isn’t this such a poignant lesson on the simple innocence of childhood…and for the matter, LIFE as well? The cost of a toy does not matter a single bit. What matters is does it bring JOY to the child. A cheap toy is no less worthy than an expensive one…. The SECRET lies in whether the child likes it.

PS: There is a little twist to this story. Will continue in another post

My wife & I brought our son out today.

Nothing special you might say. Well, true except it was a trip to buy him a toy for completing the first row of "stars" in our inaugural REWARD SYSTEM .

Bet you would already know, for every good behavior/action he does, he gets a star. And my wife has drawn up a chart filled with a few columns of boxes. Each box can fill a sticker star. When he completes one row, he gets to buy a toy of his desire (within reasonable financial means of course)

How are you doing it? -Do you have a system to reward your child? -How do you determine "good behaviors"? -Is there a list of "good behavior" previously agreed with the child? -How do you reward the child? - Or do you even believe in a reward system?

I just read an interesting suggestion from a mother who uses the "Treasure Chest " method for reward.

She basically uses the "sight" of the treasure chest as a motivation for the child, since the every time the child is rewarded, he gets to pick an item within the Treasure Chest.

Interesting….

For families with football-crazy fathers, this is a period where the family is one man down, literally.

EURO2008 is here and will continue until 30th June 2008. Which means the football-nut fathers will be too distracted to handle family affairs.

Mothers (hence termed as football widows) will be absolutely flustered that they are left with the parenting jobs alone.

Here’s an interesting article on how the mums can survive this period of being a FOOTBALL WIDOW.