Peanut Butter and Jam- An Original

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! It’s the weekend and today’s blog is perfect for starting the weekend. Today I’ll be sharing the backstory of my silly little song, Peanut Butter and Jam!

I have a neighbor who used to hold a Daycare business at her house. I worked there off and on when I was able to. I worked there for a few months before my Mission, the summer break of 2019, and the winter break from December of 2020 to January of 2021. It was a day during the summer of 2019 at this Daycare that inspired my song about peanut butter and jam.

It was a quiet afternoon and I only had a few kids to look after. Just as I was taking them to the back door so that they could get some sunshine, the teenage son of my boss came down the stairs and into the kitchen. He grabbed the jar of peanut butter, the jar of jam, and had started opening a bag of bread as I neared the other side of the kitchen counter from him.

I don’t know what came over me, but as I looked over at him I suddenly found myself singing a little jingle, “Peanut Butter and Jam!”

He stopped what he was doing to give me a dumbfounded look. “Oh, so that’s what it’s called,” he said in reply.

I had no idea how to respond to him except to shruge and change up my silly jingle, “Peanut Butter and Jelly!”

“Oh I guess that’s another name for it too,” he said with a look of surprise still etched on his face.

I knew that he was just being silly, so I ignored him and continued to escort the kids outside. But as I watched them play around in the backyard, I kept thinking of that silly little tune I had made up. Peanut Butter and Jam, Peanut Butter and Jelly… I thought. Hmm…Belly? The Crunch and the Cream… go into my mouth… and start to digest in my belly! I smiled as I realized that I had just started to write a new song all because of that silly little moment.

As I watched the kids play, I mentally continued to write the song. I decided that it would be a song for little kids- no chorus and only one consistent rhyme. By doing that, I ended up writing an entire song in around 15 to 20 minutes! All while watching a few kids play around! It’s my shortest song I’ve written and the fastest that I’ve written. Well, it wasn’t until later in the summer that I had officially completed it. I had written the bouncy accompaniment that mimicked the sound of a toaster popping up bread!

For so long I had imagined acting out the story of this cute song, and this February seemed like a good time to do it. I was still in school and life was busy! So it seemed like a good idea to have a short song to work on during the semester. Plus, for some reason I had always imagined being in my blue plaid dress and having short, shoulder length hair for the video. So I thought, Well, better get it done before my hair gets any longer!

There's nothing really more to say. I ate a sandwich and had fun recording myself while doing it. I hope you enjoyed reading the silly backstory to this silly song. Make sure you check out the video as well as the sheet music to the song!

Thanks for reading to the end! Please remember to leave a comment and have a great weekend! See you next month on Blog Week!