SBJ is sick at the moment with a cough and fevers, poor boy. He’s all croaky and sounds like a little duck, which is SUPERcute (though I am of course very sorry for him, too).

The poor wee mouse is uncharacteristically miserable, so we are watching a lot of YouTube, and therefore needing to expand our viewing repertoire a bit for the sake of parental sanity. His core faves are always Weezer videos, Sesame Street songs and the Muppets, but this week we have seriously expanded into OK Go (via their collaboration with the Muppets, strangely enough).

You’ve probably seen at least one of their one-take, dead-pan dance routine videos, maybe the treadmill dance of Here We Go Again?

One of their biggest internet hits, This Too Shall Pass, has two separate videos, one of a giant Rube Goldberg paint machine, and the other featuring a marching band hiding in elaborate camouflage gear. Or, ‘Paint!’ and ‘Band!’ as they’re known in our house (yelp that like a delighted, demanding duckling and you’ll be doing a fair impression of SBJ right now).

I’ve heard This Too Shall Pass about a dozen times today, and I’m still enjoying it. I remember first hearing the phrase used in conversation about George W Bush’s presidency, and there’s a bit of internet buzz to suggest the song is addressing the same thing.

Accompanied by a couple of deep breaths, a lot of parents use the phrase as a mantra for the various maddening phases of children’s lives. She thinks blowing raspberries while breastfeeding is hilarious? This, too, shall pass. He’s obsessed with singing Happy Birthday? This, too, shall pass.

There’s a balance to be found, of course, somewhere between enjoy every moment (or don’t) and this too shall pass. I’ll trust you to find that and not wish your life away waiting for things to pass. And when you are despairing about politics, desperate for the day you will again enjoy a sleep-in, or stuck on the Southern Motorway at rush hour(s), feel free to think of OK Go as you take your deep breaths. You could even plan your own Rube Goldberg machine while you wait. Theirs took six months to plan and six weeks to build.

You know you can’t keep letting it get you down
And you can’t keep dragging that dead weight around
If there ain’t all that much to love around
Better run like hell when you hit the ground

When the morning comes

You can’t stop these kids from dancing, and why would you want to
Especially when you are already getting yours?
‘Cause if your mind don’t move, and your knees don’t bend
Well don’t start blaming the kids again

When the morning comes

Let it go
This too shall pass

You know you can’t keep letting it get you down
No you can’t keep letting it get you down
If there ain’t all that much to love around,
Oh you can’t keep letting it get you down.

When the morning comes

PS: Have you spotted the new Sacraparental Facebook page? It’s full of extra links, thoughts and resources, as well as alerts when there’s a new post here. Check it out and invite your mates if you like what you see.