Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Tobey first heard this book at Christopher's house and the "chicka chicka boom boom" chant stuck. It really stuck. It really really "Mommy's head is about to explode if you say it one more time" stuck. Then Tobey discovered that Kelsey knew it and they were chanting "I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree!" all during Christmas vacation. It is catchy if not annoying.

Knowing this (they catchy part, not the annoying part), Angela gave us our own "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" book and CD. She says that Christopher and Katie love dancing to the song as they demonstrated to us on Monday. Tobey, who is usually stiff and stoic faced during sing-along songs, jumped in immediately and now we can officially say that Eli has started dancing too!

Tobey likes reading the book but more so he likes listening to the song in the various ways CCBB has been recorded (from traditional folksy, to kids rap, to a weird Euro-disco 80's version -- think Depeche Mode). But I am grateful for the CD because I used the song the other day for Tobey to dance to while cleaning up. It worked like a charm and he was done before the song was over! Who needs the annoying Barney clean up song when you've got Chicka Chicka Boom Boom? And I don't have to listen to the whole CD, just the one folksy version of the song and things are cleaned up.

This morning CCBB proved its worth again. I was in our bathroom flossing my teeth when I realized that it was quiet out in the playroom where I last left Tobey and Eli. Any parent knows that quiet = trouble but when I came out, they were both angelically sitting on the futon listening to Ray Charles narrate Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I was floored. I tried not to let them see me, especially Eli, lest I break the zone that they were in but Eli caught sight of me and still sat there and listened. By the time I was done brushing my teeth a few minutes later, they were both dancing to the song. I wish I could have quietly grabbed out the video camera to record this moment in history but even if I did, it wouldn't convey how amazing it was that the CD kept my two kids out of trouble.

Thank goodness for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.