Life is a Musical

I sing. A lot. Actually, I sing most of the time. Even if I don´t do it out loud, it is happening in my head. A conversation about going to work is likely to spin into "Don´t leave me this way," by the Communards or "Working 9 to 5" by the beloved Dolly. My partner is very patient. So is everyone else who loves me. When I am not singing other people´s songs to fit the occassion, I make up my own on the spot. Every child born into my community has a signature song and I sing it when I see them, over and over again. Luckily, children under three find this very appealing.

My daughter, Luca, sings a lot as well. She has even started to make up her own songs. Sitting in the back seat of the car, she will start with a monotonal prelude before launching into her full orchestral production complete with chorus. Right now she only does it in Portuguese. Half the time it sounds like she is just practicing speaking. The other half of the time, it sounds like therapy.

This afternoon, for example. Some background first. Luca is a four year old girl with short hair who sometimes just wears shorts and t-shirts. This means that everyone most of the time assumes that she is a boy. At that age, without the gender markers of pink or pierced ears or long hair, people read male child. We have wondered if and when it would start to bother Luca. We have hoped that she wouldn´t particularly care. This afternoon, as Rocki was driving and I was passenger-ing in the front seat, we both suddenly tuned on to Luca´s musical in the backseat. In Portuguese: "Everyone thinks I´m a boy, but I´m not. I´m a girl, I´m a girl, (crescendo moment) I´m a gi-i-i-irl" Sung without sadness or annoyance or anything other than rhythm and concentration.

A little bit later, same concert, Luca starts to sing (again in Portuguese): "I have a mama, a lovely mama, and a mae and a vovo, mae and a vovo, but I don´t have a daddy, no, I don´t have a daddy, is mae my daddy, is vovo, la la la la."

Her singing today included our upcoming move back to Minneapolis, the trip we are about to take this weekend to Rio Bonito, and the fact that she was hungry.

So what can I tell you? I am proud. I love that Luca sings. I love that she makes up songs. And I love that she has figured out a way to deal with the confusing bits of life. By SINGing about them. Doesn´t that just rock and roll?