1) I just horrified my lovely neighbor by singing “Christmas At Ground Zero” at the bus stop. She finally managed to say, “Weren’t you the person who asked me yesterday if it was disrespectful that the preschool taught your son a Hanukkah song to the tune of I’ve Been Working On The Railroad?” Um, yeah, I was.
2) I was a little discomfited yesterday by hearing my son sing “I’ve been lighting up the caaaaandles / on this Hanukkah night” because it feels like Judaism should get better treatment than filking in a kid’s song. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t sing “I’ve been fasting for Mohammad / all this Ramadan!” (also the tune of I’ve Been Working On The Railroad). But maybe that’s the level that preschoolers understand. I kind of wish they’d used an actual Hanukkah song.
3) I just spent the last twenty minutes blowing bubbles with my son. At first we were outside, but he got tired of the wind, so then we blew bubbles in the bathroom. He likes getting the bubbles caught in his hair. “Bubble head! Bubble head!”
4) I cut five inches off my hair yesterday, and so far only my Patient Husband has noticed.
5) I am going to the Thursday pilates class without having recovered from the Tuesday pilates class. Owtch.
6) My husband’s family never wrapped Christmas gifts until at least 10PM on Christmas Eve, often wrapping until three in the morning. As a result, we have a family tradition of our own: get everything wrapped before the 23rd. That means if you’re wondering where I am tonight, it’ll be in the basement, wrapping gifts.
7) Our Christmas newsletter may be the only one to use the words “Robot Apocalypse.” A relative called yesterday to thank me for the lovely newsletter, and I blurted out, “Did you read it?”
8 ) If you need a last-minute gift for someone, you can send them a Kindle copy of my book The Boys Upstairs for $4 from amazon.com. 🙂 Yes, that’s crass, but it’s my blog and I can shamelessly self-promote as well as anyone else. I just don’t do it that often. Pretend I gave you the link as a helpful service to make your life easier! See how selfless I am? 😉
When I was a kid we sang “Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay, And when it’s dry and ready, Then dreidel I will play.” No idea if that’s a “genuine” Hannukah song or not. But it seems at least as simple as the one your son was singing.
Ah, but have you played it? It’s gambling! (Not that I’m against an early less on in odds and statistics and why lottery tickets aren’t good financial investments.)