But, I did sing to my son when he was a baby. I had a mixed CD (yes, really) of songs that I was generally OK singing that I would pop in at his bedtime. I would sing and rock him until he was asleep.
I had always known that a lot of parents sing to their children (I have very fond memories of my Dad rocking and singing me to sleep), but I had never wondered why all cultures had some sort of lullaby.
In a controversial theory that caught my attention, some researchers are positing that lullabies are the result of parents proving to their babies that they are paying attention to them. When our ancestors were still required to protect their families from major external threats (famine, fire and leopards), the singing to sleep may have emerged as a signal to let babies know that we were watching over them.
This is super hard to prove, of course, but it is a cool thought. Most parents figure out that their children are manipulating them at some point (sorry, if you didn't know that yet), but I don't think any of us realized they were doing it at infancy.
No matter what the truth is, I have lovely memories of singing to my son as he drifted off to sleep. Those are memories he won't retain, but I will. And the best part is that no one complained about my singing.
What was your favorite song to sing to your baby? Tell me in the comments.
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