Put down the cookie...

I have this tendency to walk around the house, doing various chores or activities, and mentally playing the same song over and over. Unfortunately, I almost always am creating new lyrics to the tunes that are stuck in my head. From time to time, I even break out in a rousing rendition of my new song parody. I am convinced that this trait is a direct result of having to use singing to calm down or refocus one or more of my cranky kidlets.

When I had to brush an unwilling toddler's teeth, I would take "I've been working on the railroad, all the live-long day..." and instead sing, "I've been brushing [insert kidlet's name here]'s teeth, for about ten seconds..." When it was raining during our long walk to school, "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream..." became "Row, row, row ourselves, gently off to school..." I think it's safe to assume I am not the only parent on this planet who has made up lyrics to a well-known tune and sang it in such a manner.

This morning, I had the tune for "Put Down the Duckie" stuck in my head. I am blaming all of the hours spent watching various Sesame Street DVDs for having Hoots the Owl's and Ernie's voices mentally singing to me. Why this Sesame Street song was in my head today of all days is a mystery, but there it was.

I then made the mistake of stepping on the scale. The Weight Fairy was far too kind in her gifts this holiday season. Too bad none of those pounds came with gift receipts so I could return them.

Combining my excess weight with "Put Down the Duckie" led to me randomly blurting out "Put down the cookie. Put down the cookie. Put down the cookie. You've got to leave those fats alone!" Only time will tell if these new lyrics will motivate me to stop eating all the junk food and start to exercise more frequently.

Given that I've eaten a couple of snickerdoodles while typing this, I'm thinking it will take at least a few more rounds of "Put Down the Cookie" before it sticks.