I made good on my promise from the day he was born. Literally minutes after he was born and the doctors had finished weighing/measuring him, they plopped him in my arms. There I was, a brand new father, with a minutes-old baby – my baby, my child – cradled in my arms. What an awesome moment - and I had no idea what to do with it! So I sang a lullaby that I'd recently heard on YouTube, ״Zet Nor Zet" by Eli Boroderl; I didn't even know all the words, so I had to make up the last two lines. But it's the first song my son ever heard. A few hours later, we were sitting in the recovery room, getting ready to say good night to our son for the very first time. Time to read him a story! But then I suddenly realized, with panic, that I had forgotten to bring any books with me to the hospital. Got in himl! (My G-d!) My son had only been alive for a handful of hours, and I'd already failed to read him a Yiddish story! So what was I to do? I made one up on the spot, about a little baby who had just been born. And after I finished telling the story, instead of saying "the end", I said "the beginning," because that was just the beginning.
Over the next few weeks, I spent a lot of time singing to my son; after all, babies do a lot of crying, so they need a lot of soothing! I didn't know so many songs, but one that I loved was "Bletelekh in Vint" (Leaves in the Wind) by Beyle Schechter-Gottesman. It was perfect, because it's simple, catchy, but not least of all: it's long! It has five whole verses! I could sing it twice, three times through, and maybe by then my son would stay calm. It's also very easy to remember, because every verse is identical except for the verb:
Leaves, leaves, leaves in the wind! (x2) Shu shu, sha sha, leaves in the wind! (x2) Leaves in the wind rustle and crinkle! (x2) Shu shu, sha sha, leaves in the wind! (x2) Leaves in the wind fly, fly... Leaves in the wind fall, fall... Leaves in the wind lie down, lie down... | בלעטער, בלעטער, בלעטעלעך אין װינט שו שו, שאַ שאַ, בלעטעלעך אין װינט רוישן, רעשן בלעטעלעך אין װינט שו שו, שאַ שאַ, בלעטעלעך אין װינט פֿליען, פֿליען בלעטעלעך אין װינט... פֿאַלן, פֿאַלן בלעטעלעך אין װינט... ליגן, ליגן בלעטעלעך אין װינט... |
And then it hit me: "leaves in the wind" are pretty limited, but "elves in the woods" can do anything they want! They're literally magic! So then I started singing again, and the song became so absurdly long, because I could literally just keep on going with every new verse, just picking a new verb to throw in. It didn't matter which verbs; elves can do anything!
Elves, elves, elves in the woods! (x2) Shu shu, sha sha, elves in the woods! (x2) Elves in the woods dance and leap... Elves in the woods pee and poop... Elves in the woods drink and drink... Elves in the woods pick their noses... Elves in the woods write dissertations... | עלפֿן, עלפֿן, עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד שו שו, שאַ שאַ, עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד טאַנצן, שפּרינגן עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... פּישן, קאַקן עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... טרינקען, טרינקען עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... גריבלען דאָס נעזעלע עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... שרײַבן דיסערטאַציעס עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... |
But of course, that got tedious, too, after a while. I learned new songs and added them to my arsenal and eventually stopped singing "Elves in the Woods."
Fast-forward half a year or so, and all the new songs I'd learned had also gotten boring. I needed something new for nap-time, and since "Elves in the Woods" is infinitely customizable, I decided that elves would set a good example for my son and teach him how to sleep. So I sang:
Elves, elves, elves in the woods. (x2) Shu shu, sha sha, elves in the woods. (x2) Elves in the woods yawn, yawn... Elves in the woods sleep, sleep... Elves in the woods nap, nap... Elves in the woods dream, dream... Elves in the woods dream, dream... Elves in the woods snore, snore... Elves in the woods sigh, sigh... Elves in the woods smile, smile... | עלפֿן, עלפֿן, עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד שו שו, שאַ שאַ, עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד גענעצען, גענעצען עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... שלאָפֿן, שלאָפֿן עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... דרימלען, דרימלען עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... חלומען, חלומען עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... טרוימען, טרוימען עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... כראָפּקען, כראָפּקען עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... זיפֿצען, זיפֿצען עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... שמייכלען, שמייכלען עלפֿעלעך אין װאַלד... |
So there you have it: the gradual transformation of an allegoric children's song about leaves in the wind, to a wild, free-wheeling play-song about elves in the woods, to a calming lullaby about sleeping and snoring. Maybe a new version looms on the horizon. Who knows?