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From the time Tanner was old enough to hold on my hip, when I mix the formula with water for his bottle, I bounce him up and down on my hip singing, “Shake, shake, shake…shake, shake shake…shake Tanner’s bottle, shake Tanner’s bottle.” This has ended up being a great way keep a grumpy, hungry child distracted for the several seconds it takes to finish preparing his bottle.
Our back guest bedroom has become Tanner central. The waist high bed is used as a changing station, the settee has become a place for Tanner’s basket of toys and the open floor space is now home to a 25-year-old little tykes car and a brand new jumper seat that looks more like a space ship than a baby toy. Tanner, being an ever on the move boy, is less than thrilled when Grandma scoops him up from play to change his diaper. Once again, the goofy nature of Grandma comes out as we play the “oh that’s so stinky” game to keep him distracted while I clear out whatever baby deposit he has left for me. Tanner, being the smart baby he is, figured out really quickly that if he was good during this ordeal, I will stand him up on the bed, face him towards the dresser mirror so he can see himself and then bounce him up and down on the bed all the while singing, “Jump, jump, jump…jump, jump, jump…Jumpin’ Tanner, Jumpin’ Tanner.” Now that Tanner is older, he squeals with glee every time he gets to watch himself jumping on the bed.
Now, I know I didn’t make up this tune but for the life of me I really couldn’t place where it came from or why it would be stuck so firmly in my brain. The other day I was driving back from taking Tanner home. I switch to a classic station on the radio and out poured my little ditty. It all came back to me in a flood. Me and my friends standing in the arena at the Sarasota County Fairgrounds listening to KC and the Sunshine Band belting out “Shake, Shake, Shake…Shake, Shake, Shake…Shake your booty…Shake your booty. I sat in the car laughing out loud. Who would have thought a horrible song from the late 70’s would lay dormant in this silly girls mind all these years only to be resurrected as one of the weapons in this Grandma’s “Distract the Baby” arsenal.
