Yesterday, I was teaching about 1950s bebop in my large intro class, connecting it to their assigned reading of On the Road. I was also teaching about Ritchie Valens and Los Lobos in my theory class, using George Lipsitz’s smart-yet-approachable article “Cruising Around the Historical Bloc” to illustrate a Gramscian analysis of “La Bamba.” But all that I had in my head, all day long, was Grover and Elmo singing “Accidents Happen”. I’m not sure what that says for my ability to balance professing and mommying.
Accidents happen … night or day
Accidents happen … when you’re awake or you’re napping
Accidents happen … and that’s okay
…
Every once in a while, you know you might
Have an accident when you’re asleep at night
And that’s okay!
Mom or dad will help you clean up and then you’ll sleep tight
…
Accidents happen … night or day
Accidents happen … when you’re awake or you’re napping
Accidents happen … and that’s okay
….
If you don’t get there in time, it’s not a crime
Just try to make it to the potty next time.
You have to click on the link to get this cheerful tune in your head, too. It’s a convenient tune to know, just in case your child, like mine, wakes up at 1 am wet and cold and feeling terrible guilty about having made a mess, and can only get back to sleep after an hour of you alternately massaging her back and singing her this reassuring song.
