Crazy stuff I think of...

I've been listening to Christmas music in the car lately, and occasionally a song will come on and I'll start singing along with it, and then I'll really think about the words.

One of these thought provoking songs is "Little Drummer Boy." It's one of my husband's favorite Christmas songs, and so I have about 7 different versions of it on my iPod. There are a couple of things that struck me as funny about this song when I really thought about the lyrics. First of all, has anyone else ever noticed that only Bing Crosby can pull off saying "ass" in a Christmas song and have it be ok? All other versions I've ever heard say, "The ox and lamb kept time," but in Bing's version it's "The ox and ass kept time." And secondly, I started thinking about playing a drum as a gift for a very newly born baby and his exhausted young mother.

Having never given birth myself, I cannot attest to this fact for sure, but I would imagine that right after having your child, the last thing that you would want would be someone banging on a drum. Poor Mary was probably thinking, "Great, I just got the kid to sleep, I was going to try to catch a quick nap, and this kid wants to play his drum for us?" Yet she had to smile and accept this gift graciously because really, what choice did she have?

So I'm thinking that next time one of my friends has a baby, instead of knitting something, or going to the store and buying a cute little outfit, I'll just go borrow my nephews bongos and play a ditty or two... could work...

Also, has anyone else ever actually counted up the gifts in "The Twelve Days of Christmas?" It's 364 gifts!!! (Correction: If you count the Pear Trees as a separate gift, then the total is a whopping 376 gifts!) I love my husband with all my heart, and he is my true love, but if he gave me: 12 Partridges in 12 Pear Trees, 22 Turtle Doves, 30 French Hens, 36 Calling Birds, 40 Gold Rings, 42 Geese a-laying, 42 Swans a-Swimming, 40 Maids a-Milking, 36 Ladies Dancing, 30 Lords a-Leaping, 22 Pipers Piping, and 12 Drummers Drumming, I'd have him locked up!!

First of all, does one person really need 30 Lords a-Leaping? Wouldn't a pair of them be enough? Then lets look at the birds... Now I'm terrified of birds, so even receiving one bird as a gift would be awful for me. But if you add up the birds in this song, there are 184 of them!! And 12 Pear Trees? I have 1 pear tree in my backyard, and if it hadn't been firmly established when we bought the house, I'm sure I'd have killed it by now.

In my family we already have 2 pipers and 2 drummers. I don't think I need any more than that. And I remember hearing how much those bagpipes cost, I can't even fathom paying for 22 of them!!

I guess the 40 Gold Rings wouldn't be so bad, except that I'd have to sell them to pay for the upkeep of all the blasted birds!

If this really was the person's true love, why did they feel the need to buy their love with so many gifts? It's kind of like Barbie... if she's so cool and popular, why do you have to buy her friends?