For the Mamas and the Papas out there

I really want to get into the habit of singing lots to and with Donovan, both traditional children songs and also more "contemporary" music (not sure that title fits totally when some of the music in mind is Beatles or Sinatra songs, but mainly just getting away from always using kid songs). I don't play any instruments, but I figure I have a half-decent voice and thus this is my way of passing a love of music on to D. With the more adult music I can put in CDs and listen to them to learn/refresh on the words, but I feel like I also have this huge arsenal of songs that I learned as a kid or half-learned while working at the Montessori school, but can never seem to remember well enough to actually sing them through. Every once in a while I'll sit down and try to google lyrics to this or that particular song, but that only gets you so far.

Then today I came across a blog I discovered a while ago, and a new site, both of which will help a LOT with building up a better song list to use. The blog called No Time for Flash Cards. She has a ton of great activities to do with kids, which D is a bit young for still, but she also makes videos of herself singing different childrens songs and writes out the lyrics. A lot of them are ones that I kinda sorta remembered, and then hearing them through once is enough.

The second site, which I just found today and am really psyched about, is called BusSongs. This site looks AWESOME. It has lyrics to different lullabies, childrens songs, and nursery rhymes, and for many songs you can download an audio clip of the music if needed. You can browse by title, popular songs, song categories, or search using a keyword. I'm really excited to look through this site-- D and I have developed a routine where I sing him a lullaby before each nap and bedtime, and right now I have all of 3 that I cycle through and it'd be nice to have a few more. Not to mention how great it'll be to look up and learn fun play songs like Little White Duck (which was one of my favorites that was often sung at the school) and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (which I tried to sing the other day, and failed miserably as I couldn't even get past the first line without stumbling and realizing I'd completely forgotten how this song went). Oh, and I also need to re-learn all the words to The Rainbow Connection, an old beloved favorite of mine (which, btw, is also a fabulous waltz).

Anyway, so I think this site is great and figured some of you moms and dads out there might also find it cool and perhaps a bit useful. Heck, maybe I need to show it to Zach, too, so he can expand his repertoire a bit beyond The Eyes of Texas (which, surprisingly enough, does actually make for a pretty good lullaby). =P