4 Pups and a Worm!

Having a child brings so much joy into one’s life. It also brings a lot of music you had forgotten about, hadn’t known about, or had hoped to forget about. I don’t want to mention a bunch of lyrics that will get in your head, because I know how hard they are to get out once they are in (I may need a surgical procedure). Two words: Sesame Street. Certain books’ rhymes and rhythms similarly get into one’s head. Eric Seltzer’s “4 Pups and a Worm” is written like an advertisement, a catchy one. I find myself thinking “When you cannot tie your tie — no matter how you try. . . when your chopper will not fly— and you feel you want to cry. . . [ . . .] call 4 pups and a worm. They tie. They fly.” while I am cleaning, trying to prepare class, talking to friends, and other activities. When I have finally had enough distance from the reading experience that my brain can be completely occupied by other things, my daughter makes me read it to her again, which I enjoy, I just fear the aftermath.