Day: February 25, 2008

Wise men say, only fools rush in,
But I can’t help falling in love with you.

The song was made famous by Elvis Presly in 1961. It was an innocent love song.

Shall I stay? Would it be a sin?
if I can’t help falling in love with you.

Okay. Not completely innocent, but still about true love. But the Elvis version is not the one I heard first. I first heard the song as sung by UB40. They had a very different take on the words. Their music video is full of surveillance cameras, and footage of a woman filmed while unaware. These are scenes from the movie Sliver, which is a thriller based in some very unhealthy relationships.

Take my hand take my whole life too
for I can’t help falling in love with you.

The song takes on an ominous tone when placed in such a setting. At the time I felt that the song was a bit obsessive and that the relationship described was unhealthy. Yet the song appealed to me anyway. A couple of years later I figured out why because I had my first child. She entered my life and I was helpless.

Like a river flows to the sea
so it goes, some things are meant to be

As naturally as breathing I handed over my love and life to the tiny little person who needed me. I would bundle her close and dance around my living room singing.

Take my hand take my whole life too
for I can’t help falling in love with you.

Years passed. The baby grew up, but I still loved her with my whole heart. One by one, three more babies entered my life. And I gave each of them my whole heart as well. It is one of the amazing gifts of parenthood that you can give your whole heart four times over and still have some to spare. In 2002 a new version of the song emerged as my favorite. It was sung by the A Teens for the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch. I love it because it is so cheerful and energetic. The movie is all about family, which is perfect because to me this song is all about family and loving forever no matter what. I still sing it to my kids, only now they dance with me and sing right back.

For I can’t help falling in love with you.

Today is the official day for Kindergarten registration. This is when all the kindergarteners-to-be get to meet the teachers and tour the classrooms while the parents fill out paperwork and stand in line. In prior years kindergarten registration was the big event for the week that contained it. This week it is just one event among many. Sometimes I think longingly of that less busy schedule, but then I remember that I like having a life full of new and interesting things rather than looking forward to registration as the highlight of my week.

Alas, Patches will not be attending the registration with me. He has a nasty cold and is currently in bed asleep. The news that he couldn’t go, had him in tears. But he’ll really be better off not trying to deal with new things while sick. I can take him to see the Kindergarten rooms and teachers on a different day. I’m still going to go. He needs to be registered and the sooner I do it, the more likely it is that Patches will end up with the teacher that I want for him. After Gleek’s less-than-ideal kindergarten experience, I feel strongly that Patches needs a more stable teacher.

The next get-ready-for-kindergarten task will be to get Patches’ last round of immunizations. That will not make him happy at all. It doesn’t make me happy either. I hate having to get my kids immunized. I hate it so much that I’d completely suppressed the knowledge that I was not yet done dealing with this stuff. The good news is that this is the last big round of immunizations for me. After this I only have 12 year old booster shots to deal with and those are easy.