I put my right arm in. I put my right arm out. I put my right arm in, and I shake it all about. I do the hokey pokey and I turn myself around. Is this really what it’s all about? Maybe. No one ever said the secret of the universe had to be complicated. In fact, I’m pretty sure that Zen masters claim it’s unbelievably simple. Like the hokey pokey itself.
While I have my doubts, I’m pretty sure my kids are hokey pokey believers. They love to stick various limbs in and out. They especially love the big finish with their whole selves. In and out, shaking all about. They are too young to feel self-conscious, as they dance and sing. Even 22-month-old Jacob gets in on the act. His words might not be totally intelligible, but his message is clear. He wants to shake his groove thing along with some popular rhyming tunes.
I remember loving action songs, myself. In preschool and kindergarten I was the kid in front making the biggest movements and singing the loudest. I suppose I’ve always been an overachiever, even when it comes to discovering the location of Thumbkin. (Aside – why are all of my fingers male, if I am female?)
I also remember loving action songs, but not wanting to let on. By the time that I was 8 or 9 action songs had become the realm of “babies”, and definitely far too uncool for me. And yet I relished the chance to sing and move at Girl Guides or in the school choir. When everyone was “made” to participate, I could do so without risking my reputation. Alas, I was already learning how to fit in at all costs.
Now I have children of my own, and I can hokey pokey to my heart’s content. Ironically, I find myself less willing. Action songs are much like children’s books. They’re fun, but after 2751 repetitions at your toddler’s request, it descends into tedium. Your “Ring Around the Rosy” starts to lack enthusiasm, and you reach for excuses to not have to fall down and get back up yet again. 30-something adults just don’t have the energy of small children.
In spite of the encroaching boredom, I persist with the action songs. They have gotten me out of many a tight spot. A long wait in the doctor’s office, a fight between two kids or a toddler in need of distraction are all made better by a round of “Head and Shoulders”. Tedium, as it turns out, beats screaming or destruction hands-down.
I have had to swallow my own self-consciousness to meet my children where they are. Adults who would normally never hear my singing voice have gotten a front-row seat as I shake it all about. It’s not always comfortable for that part of me that wants to conform. But it’s valuable, all the same. I want to teach my children to honour themselves. I want to teach them that they matter. I want them to see that their hearts are more important than what other people may think of them. The best way I know to do that is to let go of my adult facade and do some hokey pokeying when the situation calls for it.
I don’t know if this is really what it’s all about, but I suspect it might be. Not the hokey pokey, exactly. But taking the time to sing and move with my children. Forgetting what other people might think, and being present with the small people who need me. When they are grown and gone I will remember that I could hokey pokey with the best of them. And that will matter far more than some random stranger at the grocery store.
Have you ever found yourself doing potentially embarrassing things in public to avert a kid meltdown? Would you hokey pokey in a waiting room? And do you really think that’s what it’s all about? Please share!
Oh my gosh!! That’s the cutest video!!
We do silly songs all the time too! Just the other day we had to do Ring Around the Rosie about 50 times in our living room. We were extremely exhausted but his laughter and excitement were too precious to say no more. So we continued to swing in circles and fall down.
The other favorite is If You’re Happy and You Know It.
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The silly songs are so much fun!! .Listening and dancing around are her favorite.
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I missed out on that. My parents didn’t Hokey Pokey, Head & Shoulders, Ring Around the Rosie, London Bridge or any of that…. sigh…. no Girl Guides, choir, or any extra curricular music. I felt like a moron in school because everyone else knew the words, so I was timid and awkward and following the others blindly…. sad times.
But now I get to try to this with my boys!
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I would totally dance and sing in a waiting room if it would help keep my kids happy and occupied! I’ve been caught plenty of times singing loudly in my car at a stoplight or making silly faces and noises while pushing a cart in the grocery store. We do what we have to in order to keep our kids happy while out in public, and I think it’s fun too!
Have you heard of Dan Zanes? He’s a great children’s musician that isn’t annoying to adults. He has some fun action songs on his cd’s.
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As someone who has been known to dance to the muzac in the grocery store – with or without kids in tow, I think it’s fair to say that if I want to sing or dance or move in an unconventional way, I’ll do it regardless of where I am. Why not? I wouldn’t do it in a high-brow restaurant or a hospital, but in many places, it’s not a disruption and why not have fun (and teach our kids to have fun) when the feeling arises.
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But… but… he TOTALLY didn’t turn himself about! I call incomplete hokey-pokeying!
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Okay, I guess it’s time for a confession. This is gonna make me sound so uncool but I’m hoping someone will have a laugh at my expense anyway. In grade 10 or 11, I forget which, Eric Nagler from Sharon, Lois and Bram and the Elephant Show came to my small town to play a concert for the kids. I was so excited. The Elephant Show was for some reason my favorite show. I dragged my little brother who was probably 10, so I could go. At the end (okay, I’m already laughing and blushing here) they got kids to go up on stage to play the spoons. They chose my brother but I ripped them out of his hand and went up myself. (He didn’t care. He didn’t even like the concert). And there I was 16 years old playing the spoons at a children’s concert among toddlers and pre-schoolers. They must have thought I had some serious mental issues. Today Sharon, Lois and Bram are still my favorite kid’s performers and I love that I know all the words! Okay, I am SO embarrassed now. I would NEVER admit that to anyone’s face.
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I certainly believe that’s what it’s all about and I can think of no place I wouldn’t hokey-pokey to avoid a melt-down.
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Once while we were in the ER (post medication, during the observation period before they let ya go home), I danced an entire Shim Sham jazz number to entertain Q-ster, who was patiently breathing from the nebulizer. Eventually, one of the nurses saw my feet moving behind the curtain and came to check it out, but it kept the little dude occupied for a while.
Oh yes I have sang in public to my children but I don’t recall ever doing it to avoid a meltdown, it’s usually just for fun. I am a little self concious about my singing voice but hey, I’ve had much more embarassing moments in my life…like a toddler screaming and crying about which shopping cart I use….a toddler choking and throwing up at a restaurant and then spilling over my drink….Yeah, being a mom is so cool. lol
Just last week I sang and danced with my son in the waiting room of a walk-in clinic. We were zooming around the waiting room and it kept the crying away. I am self-conscious in public, but agree that my singing and Elaine from Seinfeld like dance moves are less embarrassing than my toddler melting down because I wanted to put my purchases in a bag.
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My little guy is just getting old enough to participate in action songs-we sing ring around the rosy by just standing and holding hands, then sitting on our bottoms to “fall down”. He loves it and always tries to pull me back up (which is pretty funny since I weigh 6x as much as him!). And he likes to hold my hands and clap them together while I sing “if you’re happy and you know it” but has no interest usually in clapping his own hands while I sing. Lol. I’m sure it’ll become tedious at some point, but for now it’s just exciting that we can have fun singing and moving together!
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