I was walking upstairs this evening and thought..."I forgot I was writing again!" And the thing that made me forget was that Elliott did something and now I forget what it was that made me remember that I forgot I was writing. Because at the time I was thinking, "Angie should write that in her journal that she keeps for Eli." but then immediately after I thought...wait...I WRITE TOO! And the fact that I forgot that I write and then forgot the reason I remembered why I write is just so...me-at-this-age.
So I know it wasn't this, but tonight I was putting Eli to bed. Angie has taken it upon herself to be the bed putter for Eli. I do it every so often, but for the most part, my portion of the ritual ends with the "whoosh" and "Weeeee" where I swing him upside down from where I'm holding him, his arms reaching up (down) as his outstretched fingers nearly touch the carpet as he swings down between my legs then back up to my chest and I say "WHOOOSH!" and then I do it again and say "WEEEEE" and I ask him each night whether he wants whoosh or wee and he tells me and I do it three times then plop him on his mother's lap where she waits to read him a story.
But wait...then he climbs back down for one last hug, on my right side. Also one squeeze daddy. Followed by "now dis side" and one more squeeze then a request for water, which he drinks way too slowly and insists upon closing and putting back by himself before crawling back up onto his mother's lap where she waits to read him a story.
But wait...then we blow kisses and after I blow a kiss to him Angie says, "blow dada a kiss" and Eli says, "You do it mama" and so Angie blows me a kiss and I catch it and press it to my cheek and then Eli climbs back down on the floor for one more kiss, leaning is forehead toward me so I can kiss his soft hair and muss it in, before he finally climbs one last time up onto his mother's lap where she waits to read him a story.
I slowly leave, telling him I love him and then he says he loves me and we each say it two more times in silly voices before I shut the door behind me.
But that is not what I did tonight. Tonight I put him to bed, and since I rarely do it we don't really have a set routine apart from reading him a story, then snuggling him and scratching his back while I sing him a song.
Tonight I read him Grandfather Twilight and then snuggled him and asked him what he wanted me to sing. "Gata" I thought I heard him say, but that didn't ring a bell, so I said, "what about Twinkle Twinkle?"
"Gata" again. "Sorry buddy, I don't know that one. I'm going to sing Twinkle twinkle." So I did. He didn't seem to care, so I sang it and then sang Bah Bah Blacksheep and the Alphabet song since they're all the same melody. His little head was turned away and he was lying against my shoulder. I turned him back to face me and asked if he wanted me to sing another song and he said, more clearly this time, "Gah Gato".
"Don Gato," I asked, surprised?
"Yeah," he agreed.
The last time I put him to bed, and I can't even tell you when that was, perhaps the last time Angie had an event at work where she needed to stay late, or maybe she was meeting friends or something, but it was months ago. The last time I put him to bed, I sang him "Senor Don Gato".
Señor Don Gato was a song we sang when I was in grade school. I learned it in 3rd Grade. Mrs. Wetterhaus (later Gniting...butchering these name spellings I'm pretty sure) was our music teacher. Señor Don Gato was THE favorite song we sang in third grade and SOMEhow I still remember it to this day. I've sung it to all the kids, but honestly don't remember all the words. Just most.
Here's what I sang:
Oh Senor Don Gato was a cat,
on a high red roof don Gato sat,
he was there to read a letter
meow meow meow
where the reading light was better
meow meow meow
'twas a love note for don gato.
'I adore you' wrote the lady cat,
who was fluffy white and nice and fat
there was not a sweeter kitty
meow meow meow
in the country or the city
meow meow meow
and she said she'd wed don gato.
Oh don gato jumped so happily,
he fell off the roof and broke his knee
broke his ribs and all his whiskers
meow meow meow
and his little solar plexus
meow meow meow
twas the ending of don gato Ay carumba! cried don gato
*Completely forgot these two verses:*
Then the doctors all came on the run,
Just to see if something could be done.
And they held a consultation, Meow, meow, meow
About how to save their patient, Meow, meow, meow
How to save Señor Don Gato.
But in spite of everything they tried,
Poor Señor Don Gato up and died.
Oh it wasn't very merry, Meow, meow, meow
Going to the cemetery, Meow, meow, meow
For the ending of Don Gato.
*somehow skipped right to the end*
As the funeral passed the market square
such a smell of fish was in the air.
hmmm hmm hmmm hmm hmmm hm hmmm hmm though the burial was slated,
meow meow meow
he became reanimated meow meow meow
he came back to life don gato!!
We loved that song. The "hmms" represent words I don't remember. I recall trying to look it up years ago and not really finding anything online. Not super surprising since it was a children's song we sang in the 70's. But maybe I should take another look.
Anyway. I forgot I was writing. And then I remembered. Maybe I'll remember what it was I actually wanted to write down. But probably by then I'll have forgotten I'm writing again.
OH! Nobody's seen this yet regardless, but after I posted I found it! Not only that, I found it on Spotify too, so now we listen to it on our daily walks.
Señor Don Gato