From the Bottom of My Heart

I couldn't wait for it to snow, and I'm still super psyched to look outside and see the pretty sparkly coating of white stuff that arrived yesterday, just in time for winter to begin. But once again I must marvel at the onset of collective amnesia that strikes the state of Massachusetts on the first snow of each year. It's impressive, really, how a half inch of precipitation manages to rankle die-hard New Englanders and stretch my evening commute from 20 minutes to an hour. Snow, people. It's in our bones. How does this happen every farklng year? Oh well, the initial mania is overwith and done, at least.

So I've decided once and for all to release my feelings about HR's sleeping habits into the universe. Yep, he probably should be sleeping through the night as he approaches the eight (!!) month mark. Nope, he's not. But he's my baby and he's got his own thing going on and I have to respect that and not weigh myself down further by imposing expectations. So last night, I just let go. And after a midnight feeding, he slept straight through until morning. Coincidence? Well, probably. But I'll work on keeping my mindset with this one: Just. Let. Go. We'll have good nights and bad nights, and I'll hold up my end of the bargain by being consistent with bedtime habits. But I can't be disappointed when he doesn't hold up his. Really who makes a bargain with an infant anyway, right? They're notorious welshers (is that a racist term somehow?). The point is, which you already knew but I have to keep reaffirming for my own sanity: we're gonna make it. If a few nighttime wake ups are the worst thing we're dealing with right now, we should consider ourselves extremely lucky.

I realize I only have three more days (including this one) to write about holiday music, and there are so many little gems I haven't shared. I won't write in detail about all the ones I especially like, there just isn't time. But I'll name check, in no particular order, some of my seasonal favorites. The secular ones like "Silver Bells" and "Let it Snow" and "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" and "The Merriest." I also like the traditional religious ones like "Joy to the World" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," and hymns like "Go Tell It On the Mountain." Handel's "Messiah" gives me chills every time.

But today what I really want to talk about is the music I can't stand, beginning with the season's chief offender: "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." This is not cute. It purports to be clever, but instead it's patronizing and--hello!--creepy as fuck. I get it, I get that the mother isn't actually committing adultery because it's really daddy in the Santa Claus suit. But the kid in the song doesn't know that, and, HA HA isn't it funny that my mother's getting biz with Santa? I mean, I can see how that would be a wicked bargaining chip for a savvy, cynical child, plus if you're that type of kid who wouldn't want Santa as a potential step-parent? But I think we're meant to infer that the little spy is an innocent. So the question is, what degree of naivete would allow for a child to see their mother kissing someone who isn't their other parent and think it's just delightful? None. That degree of innocence in a child is a fallacy, and that kid would be traumatized. So I guess the thing to take away from this is that I don't like this song sort of a little bit?

Also: Boney M.'s "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" - you know the one I'm talking about. The only way it could be more annoying is if the Black Eyed Peas covered it or something. Finally, Mariah Carey get out of my face. I don't mind her as a person, I think she's actually sort of a riot. And I appreciate her singing talent. But really at Christmas she needs to back off.

Ah, that felt good.

I'll wrap up with a song I actually really like, even though it's admittedly annoying: Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad." I read somewhere that Sr. Feliciano was the first person who sung the National Anthem at a sporting event and dared to mess with the arrangement, something that stopped his career in its tracks. While I am no fan of what's happened to the "Star Spangled Banner" since he opened the door, I feel like he was a scapegoat. Consider this my way of avenging the writer of the awesome Chico and the Man theme song.


Bonus points for the Charo cover in the Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special.