Just a Spoonful of Sugar. . .

Do you remember the Mary Poppins' song, "Just a Spoonful of Sugar"? I used to love that song as a child. Although I've never seen the movie "Mary Poppins, I listened to hours of Burl Ives songs as a child, and this was one on his many upbeat pieces. So cheerful, energetic, happy, and sweet; the song is a delight! The lyrics remind me of some of the tactics that "The Nanny" is promoting in the short segments during her show where she gives techniques for dealing with kids. I don't agree with all of them (sometimes they center more on bribery than on respect), but I will admit to a time or two when the boys were small that this "Nanny-type technique" and song came to mind and I tried to figure out some creative way to get the medicine down. When they had a serious ear infection or other childhood illness that required medication, it sometimes took great creativity to make them swallow the stuff! Even the bubble gum flavored medicines tasted awful to them. I'm not sure I ever resorted to sugar, but I probably tried honey a time or two!

This reminds me of a story my Aunt Mable used to tell about my father. She was twelve years old when he was born, and since my grandmother was not well for much of his infancy, Aunt Mable took good care of her infant brother. He was distressed with much colic so the country doctor prescribed some medicine to bring him relief. My grandfather, though, had other ideas. He cared deeply for his infant son, so decided that he could not have the medicine until he tried it first. He took a dosage of the medicine to test it, and discovered it made him very ill. Needless to say, my father never received a dose of that medicine! Somehow he survived those years and now looks back with fond memories of stories his sisters tell of their precious baby brother and stories of his upbringing.

I'm reminiscing and I know I've lost the thread here by sharing all these topics in one, but some days are like this, where we think about one thing and it leads us to more. I guess it's that kind of day for me.

Here are the lyrics to the cheerful song!

Just a Spoonful of Sugar

In ev'ry job that must be done
There is an element of fun
you find the fun and snap!

The job's a game
And ev'ry task you undertake
Becomes a piece of cake
A lark! A spree!It's very clear to me

That a...Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-down
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar
helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way.

A robin feathering his nest
Has very little time to rest
While gathering his
Bits of twine and twig
Though quite intent in his pursuit
He has a merry tune to toot
He knows a song
Will move the job along.

For a...Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-down
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way.

Have a delightful day!

*Quilt block by my mom