Once a week, my daughter goes to Italian school. But lately, it’s been an uphill battle even getting her into the car.
It wasn’t always like this. We once went to class with a smile on our face, jabbering the whole car ride about all the fun things we would do with our new friends.
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That all changed the day we heard… “The Watermelon Song.”
While this song will never win a Grammy, I’m pretty baffled that it freaks B out so much. The watermelon just acts out random verbs until he goes to sleep. The melody seems totally benign, and she’s never even seen the video to take issue with the awful animation.
Anyway, they apparently sing this song every week in class. All the other kids in class have no problem with it, but I’m told that B just sobs through the whole thing. We’ve tried everything – talking about it beforehand, NOT talking about it beforehand, offering rewards, making threats, the whole nine yards.
Nothing works. The only thing that seems to resonate with her is when I tell her, “hey, at least it isn’t The Eensy Weensy Spider!” which is the only song in the world that she seems to dislike more than this one.
Fast-forward to last weekend, when we had an “interview” with our future (English-speaking) school. As expected, B popped the question: “Will they sing the watermelon song?” For once, I responded triumphantly, “NO! They will NOT sing the watermelon song today!” Content with the response, B diligently put on her shoes and was a model child the entire car ride.
We weren’t allowed into the classroom, but the teachers emerged two hours later, one of them holding B’s hand. And what was she doing? Crying. Again.
As soon as she saw us, she was totally back to normal – so I asked her:
Me: “What happened, B?”
B: “We sang a song.”
Me: “Songs are great! And at least it wasn’t the watermelon one, right?”
B: “No, Mommy. It was even worse. It was the ‘Eensy weensy Spider.'”
So just in case you ever had any doubt that Murphy’s law is a real thing and it’s always possible that things can always be worse than you anticipate, just ask my poor daughter and she’ll confirm for you.
September should be fun.