whistle while you work

most parents i know bemoan the fact that stupid, repetitive children's jingles get stuck in their heads, haunting them throughout the day and into the night. my friend sarah calls them earworms. i have experienced this, and yes, it can be annoying. however, lately i have been finding it quite comforting. it gives a rhythm and an upbeat mood to my thoughts. the lyrics, or rhymes are usually quite simple, so they don't really interfere with my thinking, but the steady cadence of, say, "the wheels on the bus go round and round" is kind of meditative, and keeps me moving. carl's brother recently sent us a tape of some american folk songs from a record they had as kids. it includes a bunch of railroad songs, a version of "yankee doodle dandy," and "the bluetail fly." we find ourselves listening to it even after cosmo has gone to sleep.