A Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night…., originally uploaded by tadnkat.
The video above is from almost a year ago, when Mackenzie was only 3 days old, and on our first night home I was singing to her in an attempt to put her to sleep. She instead was watching me interestedly, and didn’t end up going to sleep until much later, but we at least got to share a pretty precious moment together as father & daughter.
I unfortunately got the idea in my head though, that she doesn’t go to sleep when I sing to her, so I’ve barely tried to sing her to sleep since then. But tonight, she was climbing all over the bed (climbing on EVERYTHING, really) so I gave it another whirl and sang her “A Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night“. She fell asleep during the last verse. It was just too precious, and was another one of those awesome father-daughter things where she was beaming at me all the way until her eyelids fell down and she went to sleep.
Now, while that was indeed wonderful — I’m in a bind. What other great songs are there that a daddy can sing as a lullaby? Good, memorable folk tunes would be best — i.e. not just Metallica’s One sung softly. :) Definitely am open for suggestions.





Aug 14, 2010 @ 05:11:32
I can’t make any recommendations along the lines you’re looking for but I can tell you that Frere’ Jacques was my son’s sleep song. It’s one of the few children’s songs he will let me sing to him as he’s all about listening to grown up songs. He did go through a phase in which he liked to listen to Avril LaVigne sing “Keep Holding On” before he fell asleep.
Aug 15, 2010 @ 17:51:48
That’s pretty funny. I’ve tried Frère Jacques, but unfortunately it’s a bit too short for my daughter as she goes through all sorts of contortions & such before finally falling asleep, so I’d need to learn some additional verses.
Aug 15, 2010 @ 06:07:06
Go to a bookstore (in your town, or on the internet such as Barnes & Noble, Amazon) and buy a book of songs meant for singing to children. If you can’t afford to buy a book, check out your local library. It’s just amazing what resources there are out there in the world…
Aug 15, 2010 @ 17:49:54
Olska – thanks, I do have plenty of bookstores in my town. Just trying to see what other great ones in specific that people liked to use. Do you know of any?
Aug 19, 2010 @ 11:02:18
Ah, Mackenzie is so schweet!
Aug 19, 2010 @ 14:07:35
I do a medley of Frere Jacques, Au Clair de la Lune, Hush Little Baby and Barney’s I Love You song. And repeat if necessary. If all else fails, I make stuff up to whatever melody is gentle enough but keeps me from falling asleep!