The 12 Days of Christmas and the 6 Songs of Ari

I have a lot of favorite Christmas songs, but “The 12 Days of Christmas” is not one of them. Sung normally, it gets rather redundant pretty quickly, and let’s face it—some of those gifts are pretty ridiculous. Thankfully, there are all sorts of amusing parodies out there, which make it bearable. I came across this version the other day... actually, I heard the very end of it on the radio, and was intrigued. I had no idea who was singing, but I could tell it was a live performance. And thanks to my mad YouTube search skillz, I was able to find it relatively easily. The group is called Straight, No Chaser, and they are a 12-man a cappella group from Indiana University. I’ve always loved a cappella groups, and these guys are really talented. Even if you despise “The 12 Days of Christmas,” give this a listen. I think you’ll like it. And if you don’t, then “Bah, humbug” to you, you Scrooge. (There’s even a tiny shout-out to Hanukkah in there.)



Speaking of songs, Ari has started requesting songs from us—not only at bedtime but also in the car and other random times. So I made a list of her most-requested songs. They are in no particular order, and the titles given are her titles for them, whether it’s the real title or not...

1. “ABCs” (The classic alphabet song. I think that’s a given for most kids her age. She knows all the letters, just not necessarily in the right order or all at once.)

2. “Baby Jesus” (She asked for this out of the blue one day, and we had no idea what she was talking about. The only song we could think of that had to do with baby Jesus was “Away in a Manger,” and Tony cleverly changed the lyrics from “the little Lord Jesus” to “the little baby Jesus.”)

3. “La Dee Doh” (This is a song Tony sings to her—I don’t know where he got it from, but Ari loves it. It’s “their” song.)

4. “Honey, Honey” (Yes, the ABBA song, from the “Mamma Mia!” soundtrack. This one is totally my fault, since I listen to the soundtrack in my car a lot. But Tony is an accomplice because he downloaded the version from the Broadway soundtrack onto his cell phone, specifically for her. She has him wrapped, let me tell you.)

5. “Mamma Mia” (Again, my fault. She sings the words “Mamma mia” with me, and note to self, I should get that on video, because it is made of cuteness.)

6. “Someday” (Known to the rest of the world as “The Way You Look Tonight.” I’ve been singing this song to her every night since the day she was born, and I love that she asks for it by name now. She seems to especially like the line, “And that laugh that wrinkles your nose” because I usually tap her nose as I sing it.)