Why the I Love You Song?

I have sung The I Love You Song (TILYS) to the Batsman since he was a baby. It’s just one of those little tunes that comes into your head when you are rocking your tiny one to sleep. A simple little song that in our house has stuck and 3 years later we are still singing it. It goes like this:
I love you Batsman
Oh yes I do
I love you Batsman
Oh yes I do
I love you Batsman
Oh yes I do
Oh Batsman I love you
Of course the song is of no great musical or lyrical genius, but like my relationship with my first born son, the song has grown and changed and in my mind symbolises something important about the connection he and I share. It has become a song that the Batsman asks to sing with me almost every day, I sing, he fills in the words and together we name all the things we love and they became part of the song too. Sometimes it is food….’I love you sultanas’ or favourite toys…’I love you trains’ or just everyday items like cars and tables and chairs and the cubby house. Most often it is people the Batsman loves that become part of the song…I love you daddy, Bowler (baby brother), mummy and others.
TILYS is a regular feature at bathtime, dinnertime and bedtime. We sing it in the morning and the evening. We sing it in the car, in the shower, at the playground and on the walk to kinder. We sing it for fun, for familiarity and sometimes to soothe some frayed tempers (the Batsman’s and mine). Sometimes we sing ten different verses before we have run out of things we love.
Since the Batsman’s diagnosis with a mild autism spectrum disorder on March 18, 2010, TILYS has taken on an even more special place in my mind. Our little boy, our precious first born son, our exuberant, affectionate, smiley 3 year old, our Batsman. I love you Batsman, oh yes I do.
So here we are. A new blog, a new journey, challenges ahead. And we will be singing the I Love You Song all the way.
xx