April 24, 2012

Sunshine

“I wanna share da donuts,” she sweetly says from the backseat of the car as we drive out of the city and toward school.

“You did share the donuts,” I reply, trying to keep things positive without saying the word No. “We got some yesterday and you did a great job sharing.”

NO! I WANNA! SHARE! DA DONUTS!!”

If she wasn’t 2, I probably would’ve pulled the car over and asked her to get out and cool off for a minute. I mean, really? YOU WANNA SHARE DONUTS?! Good for you! Heh. But she’s 2. And this, from everything I hear and read and remember from my nephews and nieces, is par for the course for 2. So instead I drive on- and start to smile as I think about last night:
“She demanded that you sit,” the hubs recounted, as we sat on the couch watching The Voice. He was marveling over our Good Nights with Lovie and how she … demanded that I sit after she conned me into singing some bedtime songs even though she insisted, just a moment prior, that she was going to bed when given the choice between singing and bed.
“Yup,” I said. “She does that a lot lately.”
The demands are coming more and more and it’s a bit hard to digest since they’re coming from a 2 year old. A 2 year old who sincerely is the sweetest little thing in the world. But I stand my ground (usually by ignoring) because I’m much bigger and refuse to live with a tyrant... Especially one that barely comes up to my waist. But really, it’s not that hard to deal with. She’s just expressing herself, I get it. I’d much rather her express herself than to hold it all in and eat it away or take it out on other kids or something. Not only that, but all I have to do is wait a minute and her sweetness prevails. Always does.
“Listen to sue-mic?” she says more softly a minute later.

I turn up the volume on the car radio and she starts singing a couple seconds later... But not to the song on the radio. Instead she starts singing one of the songs I sing to her before she goes to bed at nap or bedtime- if she lets me.
The other night dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms.
And when I woke dear, I was mistaken, so I hung my head and cried.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine; you make me happy when skies are gray.
You’ll never know dear, how much I love you; please don’t take my sunshine away.
My smile gets bigger and tears creep into my eyes as we get closer to school.

“That was beautiful, honey,” I say a moment after she finishes.

"Thank you, Mama."


We never did stop for donuts. And it was no big deal. But her singing our bedtime song, the one I've been singing for nearly 28 months? Huge deal.

Me and my Lovie: snuggling on the couch watching TV before bed.
Yes that's authentic, natural silver hair. And yes, that is a binky her mouth.

23 comments:

  1. How sweet! And what a GORGEOUS child!

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  2. We used to sing 'you are my sunshine' to our daughter at bedtime and when she sang it...oh, my heart. Isn't that just the best?
    This is so, so lovely. And, yes, a huge deal.:)

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  3. I sing you are my sunshine to PJ every single night. he says "sunshine mama?"

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  4. Aw, she's a cutie! Good luck with the demandy stage...

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  5. That is the saddest bedtime song ever, but juxtaposed with the Toddler Demands? Sweet and funny.

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    1. hehehe i was wondering if anyone was going to comment on the song- it's kinda creepy (in its entirety)!! that's why i've only ever sang the first verse to her- that's all she knows of it. :)

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  6. Oh, kids. They are the cutest little thing! I think it's a phase - the demanding part. I've been through that with my nephews and nieces. They will outgrow that phase sooner than you think ;)

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  7. Oy, the demanding phase. We're in it too over here. It's so hard to know when to give in and when to try and put your foot down. I usually just ask him to say it more nicely if I feel like acquiesing to his demands without looking like a sucker. ; )
    Your daughter is adorable. I'd probably be putty in her hands too...

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  8. What a beautiful moment.

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  9. Very nice. Funny how kids can just make you want to pull your hair out one minute and the next they pull at your heart strings.

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  10. We call our son the Tiny Little Dictator. They sure do feel strongly about certain things, don't they?

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  11. What a (well-earned) tender moment! Two-year-olds can be so precious...when they feel like it! :-)

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  12. I've sung You are my Sunshine to Mase every night since he was born and there is no skipping a night. He loses his mind. But now that he's old enought to sing along, it is so special. I tell him that I'm going to call him every night when he goes to college and sing it to him. Haha!

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  13. Oh how I remember the twos, not missing them that much.

    WG

    But she sounds cute!

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  14. I'm not missing the twos much either but boy was this sweet. (-:

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  15. We love "You are my sunshine" and "Twinkle Twinkle" - and a few German songs - here. Music and words and moments like those are what last. Lovely post.

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  16. How very, very sweet. My nephew is two. Sometimes it's hard to take their little tyrannical attitudes, but then they do something like what your daughter did, and it's very hard not to forget it all then :)

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  17. My GRANDPARENTS sang me that song. And I sang it my little girl, who is now an aggravating tween. I remember those sweet moments. Remember them they go by in the blink of an eye.

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  18. Very sweet. I think I have some dust in my eye ;)

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  19. Oh sweet baby. She's such a special girl. One of the things I like best about you is that I know how completely nuts crazy you are about her, how fascinated you are by her, and how she lights up your whole world.... BUT, you maintain that you are the parent. You make the rules. You will be the boss. Not in a dictator-type way, but in a way that I believe will help build her to be the most wonderful kid and then teenager and then adult. You guys have such a great balance. And I love reading about it. :-)

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    1. cripes, Jen- this brought tears to my eyes. thank you for this. very kind- and i hope true. big giant hugs to you, my friend.

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