Music Tip -Download for Pout Pout Fish Song

I can't figure out how to give you a copy of the MP3 download for the Pout Pout Fish song.  So anyone who would like it, please email me, and I'll email the download to you.  Or....if anyone smart out there can tell me how to post it, I'll try it.

Parenting Tip -Jellyfish

Here's a fun project you can make with your child.  A jellyfish in a bottle!

Info on how to make it is here.

Music Tip - The Pout Pout Fish

This is my new favorite book.  It's about a fish who thinks he's a pout pout fish and has no other choice than to spread the "drearie wearies all over the place".  Then a new fish does something unexpected to him and changes his view of himself.  It's really cute. 

A dad wrote the cutest song to go with it.    I would love to get a copy of the music but haven't been able to contact the composer.  I even found out he lives in my city!  So if anyone knows Gordon G, please have him contact me!

UPDATE!  I did contact the composer of the song and he gave me an MP3 download.  I'll see if I have permission to post it. Thanks, Gordon!

Parenting Tip -You are an Artist!

I listened to an interesting podcast today about the stained glass artist, Tom Holdman.   He is a young man who has created and made stained glass windows for LDS temples, Catholic churches, commercial buildings, residences and public art projects. What fascinated me the most about him though, was that he has a speech impediment.  And it was that disability that has shaped him into what he has become today. 

 

As I read more about Tom and his work with stained glass, I was amazed at how many thousands of small pieces of glass go into each window.  I thought of the hours and hours of time it took to work with so many pieces of glass to create a work of art.

 

I think that is one of the reasons we are fascinated and in awe of artists---at least that is why I am.  It not only takes talent, but it takes time and patience to create art.  Any art. 

 

I’m interested in quilting.  That medium uses many small pieces of fabric that are sewn together to create a beautiful masterpiece.   A great painting contains hundreds of strokes of paint.  A symphony is composed of note after note after note to make a beautiful harmonic masterpiece.

 

All great art takes time, patience and the willingness to let the work evolve into a creation of its own.

 

Mothers are artists.  We help create people.  We spend hours, weeks and years teaching and loving and showing patience through many small pieces of daily experiences.  We watch and wonder as our work of art begins to emerge into a beautiful masterpiece.

 

Do we view ourselves as artists or as bored and tired wives and mothers?  An artist works many hours alone with his project.  There is no one encouraging him while he is working laboriously and sometimes tediously on each project.  It is only at the unveiling that he is rewarded with the praise he deserves.

 

So it is with mothers.  Day in and day out we change diapers, cook meals, wash clothes and listen to whining children.  There is no one there to give us a high five and say “good job, Mom!”  But if we’re patient, if we keep in our mind’s eye the long range goal, and if we enjoy the small moments of each day, then we, too, will receive the praise and reward we deserve when our project is finished (is it ever finished?).

 

If we think of ourselves as artists, our daily struggles will seem more glamorous.  If we think of ourselves as artists we will view our “work” as a creative endeavor. If we think of ourselves as artists, we can enjoy the journey and feel gratitude for the magnificent work we have been entrusted with.

Music Tip - Black Socks

I got a message on facebook this week which said, “hi I  just remembered something I think it was you.. I was in 3rd grade and you were a sub one day you had brought your guitar and sang a song _ black socks they never get dirty the longer  you wear them the hurder they get some times i think I should wash them but some thing keeps telling me not yet not yet... was that you???”

I replied, “Oh my gosh!!!! You remembered!!!!! Yes, that was me. I'm famous (?) for that song-----I think. You just got one little word wrong, however. It's ...the longer you wear them the "stronger" they get. Stronger as in stiffness AND smell.”

She wrote back, “yeah it got stuck in my head i sang it to my little brother because he would wear his black socks for about a week,,,yuck... but yeah.lol...will now I know the song better an I'll be singing to my boys...it's funny that i remembered this was when I was 7 an now im 27.lol”

The power of music---remembering a funny song 20 years later!

I did some research on this song so you, my wonderful readers, could enjoy it too.  Since this is a silly, camp style song, there are many versions.  Here are a couple:

Black socks, they never get dirty.
The longer you wear 'em, the stiffer they get.

Sometimes, I think of the laundry,
But something inside me says "Don't send them yet"

Black socks, they never get dirty.
The longer you wear them, the blacker they get.
Sometimes I think of the laundry;
But something keeps telling me don't wash them yet not yet, not yet, not yet...

And since I know you’re dying to hear the melody, here are a couple of versions I found online:

 This next version is sung as a round, which is how I taught it.

You can listen to it here:     

So there you have it.  Another silly song to add to your repertoire. Have fun singing!