If there’s a skill of mine that will never be rewarded financially, and in fact only serves as a road trip plus or game night choose me incentive, it is my ability for lyric recall.  All that brain space that is supposed to be taken up by useful facts and figures is chock full of lost classics from 1978, each and every word to “One Night in Bangkok”, mushed up Cocteau Twins, Jim Croce, Joni Mitchell, de la Soul, original Broadway cast recordings, and both sides of Depeche Mode import albums not to mention Bert Bacharach and Etienne Daho, a French pop band from the 80s.

All this is to say that I should be able to think of myriad songs at bed time.  But there, in the dark, perched on my daughter’s bed, I come up with one or two. Or nothing.  I’ve done all the usual suspects and my kids will probably hear James Taylor or Carly Simon in college and feel the urge to suckle or sleep, but aside from a few Beatles’ I’ve been blank lately.

So what do I do when there’s pleading – come on, Mom, something – anything – new.

I sing, “Here’s the story, of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls…”

The Brady Bunch?  Who knew all those years of back-to-back episodes would come in handy.  Trite, short, and easy to remember, the theme song worked.*

*And in case that wasn’t bad enough, last night was “The Search is Over”, Survivor’s greatest hit that up until now brings back Frankenstein hands on shoulder dancing in 7th grade.  Needless to say, my daughter loves it.