Ickety Doo Dah (And Other Songs from My Three Year-Old)

Never underestimate the ways a three year-old can make you smile.

My three year-old girl shares a room with her year-and-a-half old brother. He is in a crib, and she is in a toddler bed. They go to sleep better with music playing, so we'll put on a playlist of random songs for their goodnight music. What often happens is that he'll go to sleep, but she'll turn on the lights and grab a bunch of books to bring to her bed to read. We'll open the door, shut off the light, tuck her back in, and close the door. Usually by the second or third time we do this, she'll finally stay in bed and fall asleep. It's a routine we go through more nights than not.

The other night I walked by their room and saw that the light was on. So, I opened the door, expecting to find her in bed with a bunch of books, or over at the book shelf gathering more nighttime reading material. That's not what I found. The song my iPod had randomly pulled up to play was "Shake Your Booty" by KC & the Sunshine Band. The Boy was asleep, his face pressed against the bars of his crib, but the girl was not in her bed. She was near her brother's crib, dancing to the music.

When she heard me open the door, she turned and looked at me, stopped dancing, and, anticipating a scolding from me, said in a very defiant tone, "I was just shaking my booty!" I closed the door on her, laughed, and let her finish. She was, after all, just shaking her booty.

(Yes, you might judge me harshly for having KC & the Sunshine Band on a playlist of nighttime music for my children. I have no defense other than that that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it.)

She drives me crazy!

A few days earlier she was playing and singing to herself. I listened for a moment, then did a double-take, because I wasn't sure if I heard her right. I listened again. She was singing, "Ickety doo dah, ickety-ay. My, oh my, what a wonderful day!"

I stopped her and said, "I think that's supposed to be 'Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.'"

She considered what I said for a moment, then dismissed it. "Nah. It's 'ickety.'" Then she went on her way, happily continuing to sing "Ickety-doo-dah."

Who am I to argue? When she's around, my, oh my, what a wonderful day!