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The family music critic

The image of a mother singing "Mary Had A Little Lamb" or "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" with her young child is something we're all accustomed to. Babies and toddlers love music, and there are a variety of cute children's songs that parents memorize and gently sing back to their children. Some are sweet lullabies, others are fun songs with hand or full-body dance movements. Nearly every parenting book out there advises parents to sing to their children, saying that no matter how bad your voice may be, your child will still enjoy the song.

Apparently they never met Cordy.

Ever since she was close to two years old, Cordy has abhorred my singing. Or my husband's singing. Any attempts to sing to her are met with shrieks until we cease our vocal torture. When she was younger, she would occasionally walk over to us and try to cover our mouths. Now that she can talk, she'll shout, "Daddy can't sing!" should my husband even try to sing along to the radio in the car.

We thought it was just a phase, but over a year later she still won't tolerate our singing. Car trips aren't nearly as much fun when we can't sing along with the radio. I'm limited in teaching her the ABC's without singing the song that goes with them. No lullabies can be sung to help her to sleep.

But it's not that my husband and I have screechy, awful voices. I've been told my singing voice is quite nice, actually. This strange reaction isn't limited to us - Cordy doesn't tolerate singing from any non-professional. I say non-professional because we've seen the Wiggles in concert, and we've attended children's concerts at the library and she has never complained about those singers. She is never upset by a recorded voice on a CD, either. At the same time, one of my husband's aunts is a professional singer, and Cordy won't let her sing. So there must be some mysterious formula in her head to decide who is allowed to sing, and who cannot.

I hope that some day Cordy might let us sing to her, or at least let us sing with her in the same room. After all, Mira loves to be sung to, and I'd like to make sure that continues. But even without our singing, Cordy still loves music - she has several musical instruments, loves to play our piano, and insists on cartoons with music in them. So I am hopeful that one day I'll be able to sing to her, or even better, sing with her.