Celebrating "Delectatio Fabula": "The Delightful Story"
Tonight I did a nice thing for my wife — she’s pregnant, she’s tired and she’s seen a bit too much of my precocious daughter and her too-often-poopy diapers. I had some Marriott Rewards points, so off she went to the local oh-so-swanky Courtyard for a night on her own. Somehow I successfully fed, bathed and clothed our little daughter and was desperately trying to distract her from the fact that her mom was gone and to get her to quietly drift off to a peaceful slumber.
So I gave her some of her warm milk, I dimmed the lights, and I picked out one of her favorite books to read. We sat on the carpet reading, and I realized I had one other fun trick up my sleeve.
I tuned my iPod to what I have as the “Hospital” playlist — 4 hours of songs we listened to on our cheap little iPod dock during the labor, delivery and recovery at the hospital. I had hastily put it together a few days earlier, but that playlist covered a broad range of music that I wanted her exposed to from the very beginning of her life. Some of the selections include:
On occasion I’ll play it while I’m hanging out with my daughter; I like to think it’s soothing to her because somewhere way back in her memory she remembers these songs as part of her from her very beginnings. Some day, when she’s a bit older, I’ll point it out on iTunes and tell her the story of the “Hospital” playlist. She’ll always be able to remember and play those songs she heard when she took her first breaths.
Before the second song of the “Hospital” playlist finished, I gathered up the sleeping heap that was my daughter and took her into her bed. It worked like magic!
My daughter will never know how she felt when she was born — but thanks to a music playlist that will (hopefully) be with her forever, she’ll have a little glimpse into how WE felt when she was born. And that will be special for me.
Do you have any playlists for special occasions? Share them with your loved ones, or write the songs of the collection down and send them on. Perhaps you have a mixed tape someone gave you a long time ago… digitize those songs (you can purchase the songs a la carte on Amazon.com or iTunes) and share those memories with your friends. Like I mentioned earlier in the week, music has a magical way of transforming us and taking us to another time and place. You’ll enjoy giving your family and friends that trip of a lifetime.
