Magic Rattle

Some of you may know the history of this little beauty, but for those who don't, allow me to explain. When Eliana was a baby, she had severe food allergies we didn't know about, so she did a lot of screaming. The car was especially bad. I could only go places 15 minutes away from my house because that was as long as I could stand to hear her screaming (lucky for me, I lived right by the on-ramp to I-80 in SLC, so I could get a lot of places in 15 min or less).

One day she was screaming in the car, and for my own sanity I began to shake a rattle. Then, I decided to sing "La Bamba". She instantly got quiet. I then tried singing "Twinkle Twinkle." No good--the screaming began again. Primary songs? Nope. I sang "La Bamba" again--silence. It worked just about every time. I subsequently discovered that I could sing a couple of other songs in Spanish with similar results, but I had to lead out with "La Bamba". We soon started referring to the rattle as the Magic Rattle.

So the rattle became a necessity for car travel for me. When Will was born, he was much less fussy in the car, but still, the Magic Rattle worked in a pinch. And now, I'm happy to report, the Magic Rattle is still magic. We've had to use it a few times with Elizabeth. Only now Eliana can sing the words and shake out a rockin' Latin beat.