Music.

I really love music. If I am in the car, as the driver or a passenger, I immediately turn on the radio and bop along to whatever music is playing. I used to attend a lot of live music shows, although that has changed since having T. I also love to sing, and music is my absolute favorite part of church. It is nearly impossible for me to hear a song I like without immediately singing along.

So while I was pregnant, T heard quite a bit of music while in my womb. My favorite genre is folk rock, although I have quite a broad range. My playlists include lots of Ingrid Michaelson and Joshua Radin, with a sprinkling of oldies and emo songs (leftover from my high school days). During the holiday season, I play Christmas music nonstop, especially the Carpenters album.

I remember a day before I was pregnant that I was driving in the car with two of my sisters and my nephew. We got stuck on the freeway behind a really bad accident on our way to meet up with the rest of the family to eat sushi. My sister's son was hungry and she was nursing him with no pumped milk available. So he was screaming and screaming, not understanding why the car wasn't moving, or why he wasn't eating. She told me that "his song" was a new church song in the Children's Songbook, so I immediately pulled up a video of kids singing it on Youtube. We played that song on repeat for at least an hour until traffic cleared and we could get to the restaurant. She recalled what each of the "chosen songs" were for her other two children, and we laughed about it.

T's chosen song is The Wheels on the Bus. Hands down, no question. I have played hundreds of other songs for her when she is upset, but nothing quiets her the way that song does. If we are stuck in the car for longer than she would like, all we have to do is start singing that song and she goes completely silent. I found a video of kids singing it on Youtube as well (for some reason, every version is British kids) and she will sit absolutely still for the extent of the video, listening to the words and the tune.

She also has a little toy bus that sings the first line of the song at certain intervals, and when she hears that, she stops what she is doing and listens. Occasionally she will even dance.

No other song has this effect on her. I have tried other church songs, pop songs, classic rock songs, oldies songs, and everything I can think of, but her song is The Wheels on the Bus.