Children's Lullabies

Not all of these songs were around when you were a kid, but many have sent generations of children off to the land of Nod. Folk, classical, pop, bluegrass . . . hey, whatever it takes. Because your dream is getting the kids off to a place where they can have their own dreams.

Artists like Nick Drake and Bill Frisell might not have immediately leapt to mind when considering nighty-night music, but if playing your tyke Mozart in the womb could make him (or her) smarter, why can't the same hold true now? Plus, you win hip-parent points (to be redeemed later).

Van Dyke Parks? Maura O'Connell? Boukman Eksperyans? One of two things is going on here: either your child is an insomniac, or you have super-eclectic tastes, and are happy to sing your child to sleep in a foreign language - say, Gaelic - if that's what it takes. Good on you, mate!

"Rock-a-bye-baby . . ." Those were the five syllables guaranteed to induce a desperate need for a glass of water, or the 78th rereading of Green Eggs and Ham, or anything to keep us from beddy-bye. We all knew adults were doing secret, interesting things while we slept; no wonder we wanted to stay up. Now that we are adults, we know we need a more sophisticated arsenal to get our tykes to sleep. This is it.