I wrote this song out of desperation to get my baby to stop crying one night.  She was maybe a year old, and in so much pain from teething and over tired.  Nothing could soothe her, so I decided to get the baby carrier out and hold her in it to try that.  Still crying, I thought, “Hey, music makes everything better, let’s try that!”  So, I got out my ukulele and just started strumming and making up words.  The first words that came to me were “Hey little baby, don’t you cry.”  And then I quickly stopped- and realized right then that my mission was misguided.  I didn’t want to eliminate her feelings, I just wanted her to know that I loved her and that she was safe to feel whatever she was feeling.  And so the line “Hey little baby, I’m not saying don’t you cry” was born.  It’s so incredibly important to feel your feelings in the moment so that you can move through them and let them go.  Especially as a child who has no coping skills yet, and barely any understanding of emotions…little ones NEED to be able to yell and scream and cry so that those skills have room to develop.  It’s our job as grown-ups to provide a safe place for them to do that, and then to eventually start to label those emotions for them and offer suggestions of how to cope when they’re ready.