How to make your baby stop crying

My daughter was born in 2000. She was a good baby, but she wasn't a big fan of riding in the car. She HATED it, in fact. She'd cry all the way to our destination unless I kept her entertained. I liked to take her out and about in Central Florida, and she enjoyed our outings once we were out of the car, but getting there was half the battle. ("Knowing," of course, is the other half of the battle... Thanks, G.I. Joe!)

I quickly figured out that memorizing and reciting her favorite baby books would pacify her for a while, but when those ran out, I had to resort to singing. Playing the radio wouldn't cut it... She wanted a live performance in the minivan in order to keep her quiet. I would sing popular children's songs, but they didn't do much to soothe her. Then one day, out of desperation, I started singing this song, "Special," from Stephen Lynch's album.

Stephen Lynch is a comedian, and this song is about a "special needs" kid he grew up with. I thought the song (and the whole album) was hilarious, and because it was a fairly melodic tune, I hoped it would work to calm my daughter. And boy, did it work! When I started singing it, she stopped crying immediately and just listened. When I stopped, she started to sniffle again, so I launched back into the same song. By the end of that drive, I had sung "Special" a total of 17 times. My daughter didn't make a sound the entire drive. Eureka! I'd found the musical key to peaceful car trips!

Of course, I had a brief moment of concern in which I worried that singing a warped comedian's humor to my daughter would somehow scar her or make her grow up to be a problem child, but I banished those thoughts quickly. It certainly couldn't be any more scarring than Raffi or, God help us, the Wiggles. I stopped singing "Special" to my daughter when she got old enough to understand the words, but to this day, that song makes me think of long car rides with a silent, rapt baby in the backseat.