Uncle John’s Presents Mom’s Bathtub Reader (27 page)

Elvis Presley was a model son. The summer after graduation he took a job driving a truck for an electrical company and faithfully brought home his paycheck. But inside, Elvis was restless. He longed to sing his way to stardom. Then he’d buy his mama a real house—along with a pink Cadillac.

Elvis went down to Sun Records and paid them to cut a record as a belated birthday present for his mama. He sang “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.” This record led to a professional session at Sun, where Elvis cut his first single, “That’s All Right.” When Elvis’s voice hit the airwaves, Vernon and Gladys were
glued to the radio. When Gladys heard them say Elvis’s name, she went into such shock that she “couldn’t rightly hear the record.” But it didn’t matter—the song was played again and again. It was an immediate local sensation.

Elvis’s first recording was a triumph for Gladys (and payback for all those times she’d had to listen to “Old Shep” over and over and over). But pride in her son’s success turned to panic when Elvis quit truck driving in favor of the music business. Overanxious Gladys, who’d walked her precious boy safely across the highway for about eight years longer than necessary, now had to watch him head out on tour. And the rest, as they say, is rock and roll history.

Once Elvis was a star, he did keep his promise and bought his mama a big pink Cadillac. Gladys was proud and grateful, but she never drove that car—she didn’t like to drive. As for world-famous Graceland, it was Gladys who saw the estate and fell in love with it. So Elvis bought it for her.

In August 1958 Gladys was stricken with hepatitis, which would eventually bring on a fatal heart attack. Before her death, her beloved pink Cadillac was placed outside the hospital, where she could see it from her window. Elvis, who’d been drafted into the army, got special leave to rush to her side. Friends claimed Elvis was never the same after Gladys died. Overcome with grief, he parked the pink Cadillac at Graceland, where it remains to this day.

There’s power in rocking a baby to sleep with a lullaby. If you don’t believe the world’s moms, just ask the scientists.

D
id you know that lullabies sound the same the world over? Or that a mother’s singing can decrease stress hormones in her child? How about the fact that rocking a baby helps it to develop faster? Scientists are beginning to take note of the centuries-old power of a mom’s lullabies.

All around the world, mothers sing lullabies to their children to soothe them to sleep. Lullabies are distinguishable as simpler and more repetitive than other types of songs. And not only are all lullabies similar, but all mothers sing them in a similar manner: at a high pitch, in a slow tempo, and with a distinctive tone.

What drives this worldwide warbling of lullabies? University of Toronto professor Sandra Trehub has done experiments that show babies are very responsive to music and quicker to notice a “sour” note than adults are. She believes this infant affinity for music is connected to a lullaby’s power to soothe a fretting baby. Trehub’s research has also shown that moms can mesmerize babies with lullabies and even lower their children’s stress hormones!

Lullabies may be an important survival tool. The sweet sounds make a baby less fussy, which, in turn, makes a mom’s demanding job easier. When a mother can more
successfully care for her infant, the infant is more likely to survive and thrive.

More evidence of lullaby power was discovered by Rosalie Pratt, a music professor at Brigham Young University. Pratt conducted a study showing the effect of lullabies on the health of newborn babies in hospital intensive care units (ICUs). For four days, newborns in the ICU were exposed to lullabies for two 20-minute sessions each day. Video cameras recorded the infants’ responses, and their heart and oxygen response measurements were calculated. These “lullaby babies” were compared to a carefully matched, “lullaby-free” control group.

The result? Lullaby babies showed lower heart rates, increased oxygen saturation, and reduced stress behaviors than the lullaby-free babies. Biological signs of relaxation were accompanied by other positive results. Lullaby babies were able to settle down faster and eat more. They consistently grew faster and had a healthier weight gain—two important goals for infants.

How were lullabies helping the babies? The theory is that the noisy ICU overstimulates a baby’s nervous system. Noise keeps babies from resting and provokes stress movements that use up calories needed for growth. Soothing lullabies distract babies from stressful sounds. They help the babies rest, relax, eat, and grow stronger.

Whatever the reason, other studies are confirming that premature babies benefit from lullabies. A two-year study on premature infants at Children’s Hospital in Akron, Ohio,
showed that lullaby preemies gained more weight and grew faster than lullaby-free preemies. Lullaby preemies were discharged from the hospital an average of 12 days earlier.

An ongoing study in the Akron hospital is testing the healing value of familiar lullabies. Classic tunes such as “Rock-a-Bye Baby” and “Hush, Little Baby” are now filling the neonatal ICU. In addition to the recorded tunes, the babies also hear a heartbeat in the background to simulate the sound they hear in the womb. You can get relaxed just thinking about it.

Turns out that “Rock-a-Bye Baby” is good advice—except for that whole treetop thing. The common rocking motion that mothers use while they sing to their babies can make a lullaby even more beneficial. Some scientists believe that rocking soothes babies by mimicking the sensations they felt in utero.

Dr. Mary Neal constructed a swinging bassinet for premature babies. The preemies placed in her hammock were faster to develop reflexes like crawling and grasping at objects than preemies who didn’t experience the movement of the hammock.

The verdict of science? Keep the lullabies coming! Studies show that you don’t have to sing like Ella Fitzgerald to soothe a baby. Even musically challenged parents enhance their child’s development by warbling a soothing lullaby and rocking their baby to sleep. Just try to stay on key.

Check out these TV moms who finally got real, man.

M
oms started to become a bit more real in the 1970s and 1980s. As the number of single parents soared from 3.8 million in 1970 to 6.9 million in 1980, TV writers introduced moms in not-so-great marriages, as well as single and working moms.

The Show:
All in the Family
(1971–1979)

At first glance,
All in the Family
seemed like a step backward. Ditzy Edith Bunker (played by Jean Stapleton) seemed a deferential housewife to her boorish husband, Archie, who called her “Dingbat” and often told her to “Stifle!” But a closer look shows that
All in the Family’s
unflinching comedic take on social issues and family life was quite revolutionary.

Edith didn’t have a glamorous life; the Bunkers were staunchly blue-collar. She dressed simply (no pearls for her!), and her house was clean, but a little on the shabby side. Her grown daughter, Gloria, and son-in-law, Mike, brought the generation gap to the table and Archie’s prejudiced ways out in the open. As a balance, Edith became the heart, soul, and conscience of the show. The Bunker clan reshaped family TV, introducing “gritcoms.”

Fun Fact:
In 1972, the show won an Emmy for the episode called “Edith’s Problem.” What was Edith’s problem? Menopause. And it was the first real mention of it on TV.

The Show:
One Day at a Time
(1975–1984)
Ann Romano (played by Bonnie Franklin), on the series
One Day at a Time
, was in a tough spot. Divorced after 17 years of marriage, with little job experience, she found herself single with two teen daughters to support. So the family moved to an apartment where every week a new family drama played itself out. Luckily for the audience, the building’s superintendent and resident Romeo wannabe, Schneider, served up the comic relief to keep things light.

Nothing was easy for Ms. Romano, certainly not finding a job or raising her two daughters alone. Ann tussled with the same troubles that faced divorced mothers of her day—tight budgets, deadbeat dads, rebellious teenagers, the need for a career, and the longing for romance. The series walked a fine line between drama and comedy. The issues were serious, but the humor was there and was genuine.

Fun Fact:
Mackenzie Phillips, who played the eldest daughter, Julie, was the real-life daughter of John Phillips, one of the founding members of the singing group the Mamas and the Papas.

The Show:
Kate and Allie
(1984–1989)

Kate and Allie
(Kate was played by Susan Saint James, Allie by Jane Curtin) followed the friendship of two single moms who were high-school buddies and now found themselves recently divorced moms. To save money and find mutual support, they shared a Greenwich Village apartment with their combined family of three kids.

Kate was trendy and a little more independent. Allie was old-fashioned and a bit uptight. They leaned on each
other while coping with the ups and downs of romance, the trials of raising kids in New York, and the oddities of their family unit.

Fun Fact:
As an original cast member on
Saturday Night Live
, Jane Curtin can be seen in reruns as an out-of-this-world mother and conehead, Prymaat, who insisted that she was from France.

The Show:
The Cosby Show
(1984–1992)

In the 1980s,
The Cosby Show
dominated Thursday nights. It seemed everyone was tuning in to watch the Huxtables—the five lively children, funny father Heathcliff, and supermom Clair (played by Phylicia Rashad). A successful attorney, as well as a down-to-earth parent, Clair managed the pressures of her profession, cared for an upscale home, and coped with the antics of five lively children—all without taking any backtalk along the way.

Critics complained that the Huxtables weren’t realistic, but some say that have-it-all, do-it-all Claire realistically reflected the spirit of the times. The notion of the modern woman succeeding was celebrated, and Claire’s seemingly impossible achievements gave us something to strive for.