I watch my grandson two days a week. Turns out it’s a great fit for my personality. I like to babble…sing songs…dance…and that tends to appeal to kids.

I love the wonder of it all. His face when I expose him to a new song or sing and dance along to an old favorite.

Recently I learned something new about something old – because of my grandson.

I have a play list of songs I share with him. Some are favorites of mine from when I was a kid. Recently Youtube played a song but it wasn’t one on my playlist. It was an old song but not one I ever remembered hearing. And when it played I marveled at what I was discovering.

When I was growing up, the expression: “Wake up you sleepy head, wake up get up, get out of bed!” was a common one. I had it said to me as a child and I can remember trying to cajole my parents out of their bed with the same expression.

So I was quite surprised when I was playing with my grandson and this song starts to play – “When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobin’ Along”. The chorus stopped me in my tracks.

“Wake up!! Wake up you sleepy head,

get up, get up…get out of bed,

cheer up…cheer up, the sun is red…

live, love, laugh and be happy”

What??!! This expression came from a song? Did I have this song sung to me when I was a child? I don’t remember. But it is now one I find myself humming constantly.

There is one line in it that feels especially poignant….it says:

“I’m just a kid again, doing what I did again, singing a song!”

That’s just how I feel when I’m with my grandson. He doesn’t just remind me of my own kids when they were little…he reminds me of myself. And through him I am re-discovering the wonder I felt as a child. And I find that, I’m just a kid again, doing what I did again….singing a song!