Day 20: Jingle all the way....

There are tons of Christmas songs-both secular and Christian.  I think my favorite growing up in church was God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen-and then lo and behold in the Harry Potter world a version of it exists! (Sirius was singing it-Book five).

Jingle Bells lasts forever. It is the one everyone knows and it is very harmless. Anybody can sing it and it is very hard to screw up.  I know it in English, Spanish, and French.

Did you know that it was written for a Thanksgiving program?  It was so popular during the program that they played it again Christmas day.  My favorite version is Dolly Parton's. I mean she makes it sound so freaking happy.  You can be in the worst mood and start singing Jingle Bells her way and all is well again.

I already told you guys my favorite holiday movie is Miracle on 34th street. You have to love the opening scenes with the intoxicated Santa Claus.  Of course right before he passes out, he starts to sing "Jingle Bells."

Wally Schirra and Tom Stoffard played it on the moon, after they told mission control they saw a man in a red suit they didn't recognize.  December 15, 1965-of all the songs to play in space, Jingle Bells won! I have seen the harmonica and bells in the Air and Space museum, so I know it is true!

My Jingle Bell timeline:

•  1989-There is this new show on television and some kid named "Bart" whoever that is, starts singing "Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg..." during his Christmas show. Ha! Like no one has ever done that before.  I'll bet that show doesn't last.
• 1991-I took an ASL class.  For our final project and party, we had to sign the Jingle Bells song.  Little did I know I was really going to need ASL for my daughter thirteen years later. (Sidenote: before that class, I didn't know that "Bells on bob tails." were bells on a horse. It makes sense, since they are dashing through the snow, on a one horse open sleigh.....)
• 1998-I am teaching Spanish to a behavioral issue class.  All five of the boys love to sing, although their song choices aren't what you would call appropriate for school.  I bring in the jingle bells and they are all singing away in Spanish.  In fact, one of them told me, "No, no, that is not the way you shake the bells.  You need more control."  Then he took the bells and rocked it out.
• 2006-Frances is in a daycare holiday program and her class sings it in Spanish (with my help). At this point we had no formal diagnosis, but she was dancing and shaking the bells while the rest of the class was singing.
• 2007-Kenneth is two and starts singing Jingle Bells in the backseat of the car.  He told me he learned it at school.  I told him no he didn't, because his daycare in Pittsburgh had a "No holiday" policy.  I asked his teacher about it and she said, "Well we do Jingle Bells, nothing is wrong with Jingle Bells."  Silly, silly me.

You can't go wrong with Jingle Bells. You can create world peace with Jingle Bells. I'm surprised Steven Spielberg didn't use it in Close Encounters of the Third Kind......