Best Lullaby: Hush Little Baby

Most parents sing their children lullabies when putting them to bed, and mine were no exception. Well, except for my mother that is. She couldn't carry a tune if someone held a gun to her head. So my best recollection of my favorite lullaby, Hush Little Baby, actually comes from my grandmother instead. When I was eight or nine years old, and my parents would go out to dinner and a movie, my grandma would come over to babysit us. She would cradle my youngest brother Bryan, then only an infant, and sing these lyrics:

Hush, little baby, don't say a word

Papa's gonna buy you a mocking bird

If that mocking bird don't sing

Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring

If that diamond ring turns brass,

Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass

If that looking glass gets broke

Papa's gonna buy you a billy goat

If that billy goat won't pull,

Papa's gonna buy you a cart and bull

If that cart and bull turn over,

Papa's gonna buy you a dog named rover

If that dog named rover don't bark,

Papa's gonna buy a horse and cart

If that horse and cart fall down,

You'll still be the sweetest baby in town