No Dance, Mommy Mia

My 2 year old confuses many words. Today I learned that she confuses the words "dance" and "sing." Here's how I figured this out.

I love to sing along to my favorite music, to the radio or to whatever CD is playing. I don't have a particularly great voice, but singing brings me great joy. My kids have gotten used to me wailing away while cooking dinner or washing dishes or driving around town. Many times, they have to wait until the end of a particularly poignant lyric to get an answer to a pressing question like "Can I have a cookie?" They are all very patient with me and not one of them has ever asked me to stop singing.

Until today.

On the way to school this morning, we were listening to Paul Simon's Graceland. Great tunes, right?? Especially Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes -- I love that one. There I am singing away, and from the middle row of the minivan, the screaming starts: "NO DANCE, MOMMY MIA, NO DANCE!"

(Did I mention she calls me Mommy Mia?)

So I think, no biggee, I'm not dancing. So I tell her I'm not dancing, and I keep singing. She just about comes unglued and keeps screaming at me: "NO DANCE, MOMMY MIA, NO DANCE!"

We go back and forth a few times, until I ask her if she means singing, and she says:"YEAH MOMMY MIA! NO DANCE MOMMY MIA!"

As much joy as children add to a life, there certainly are instances in which they suck the joy right out of an otherwise delightful time.

I was absolutely held hostage. I mean, I could have kept singing, but she just kept screaming louder: "NO DANCE, MOMMY MIA, NO DANCE!" It was so loud and so forceful that there was nothing to do but stop dancing. I mean singing. There were, after all, four other people in the car, and the whole screaming thing was creating misery for all of us.

It was a total bummer. I would forget every so often and start singing again. The resulting screams were immediate and powerful. I think I actually felt them hit the back of my neck. Not a safe driving environment.

8 hours later, I picked her up from daycare, and the same thing happened. I fear my singing days must go on hiatus. My youngest child has silenced my song. Who's the boss around here, anyway?