Singing and Dancing Traditions

From the time Ryan was little, we have had several traditions involving singing and dancing. One of his favorite PBS shows from the time he was 3 or 4 years old has been “Between the Lions.” The theme song at the beginning is so cute! When we first started watching it, I would hold him and dance with him. As he has gotten older, he first stood on the fireplace or kitchen chair to dance, and now stands on the floor to dance with me. Yes, we still do it (unless any of his friends are over). The show is on at 9:30 am and 12:30 pm, so we usually dance twice every day. Ryan gets very upset if we miss a time for any reason. I keep expecting him to tell me he’s too old to do it. Sunday night he was in tears because we won’t be able to dance anymore with school starting. He asked me to record it so we can dance when he gets home from school. He’s growing up so quickly, I’m willing to do anything that will continue that tradition a little bit longer.

During the school year, “Sid the Science Kid” comes on at 8:30 am. At the exact time that we need to leave our house to go to school, Sid’s mom is taking him to school. They do a rap together in the car. Ryan and I do that rap together, and then head out the door for school. It is also a fun tradition.

When Ryan was four, five, and six, he LOVED “Veggie Tales: Jonah and the Big Whale.” In fact, we still chuckle at the way he used to say “the wayer with a wong tayer.” (For those of you who didn’t catch that, it would be “the whale with a long tail.”) There is a song toward the beginning of the movie about “Billy Joe McGuffery.” When Ryan started first grade, we changed the words a little bit. We would sing, “On the first day (*clap*) of the first grade (*clap*).” Interestingly, after just a few days of first grade, we moved Ryan to another school. We were able to sing the song again that year. It has continued every year since, with the appropriate grade change, of course.

Ryan’s school has a brief outdoor assembly the first day of school. Parents attend, take pictures, and then the kids are ushered to their classrooms. I really like it. It sure cuts down on the confusion and congestion of every single kid and parent trying to maneuver around inside on the first day of school.

Ryan is excited about his teacher this year. She is someone that Rara has known since they were young. They grew up in the same neighborhood. Rara has told her about Ryan the past couple of years, and his teacher has looked forward to him being in fourth grade, hoping that he’ll be in her class. Ryan knows that he has a reputation to live up to, and that he needs to be on his best behavior as to not disappoint everyone involved. I’m sure he will be. He always is.