My little musician

Today, I had a six year old boy bark like a dog for me. Today, I had a six year old girl share her secret password for her club with me. Today, I followed four rambunctious first graders as they zigzagged through hallways on our quest to deliver mini cupcakes to hungry teachers.

Today is my sweet Joe's 7th birthday!! I enjoyed visiting his classroom today to celebrate his birthday. All those happy faces welcomed me into their world for a little while. I even got to read a silly pirate book to the kids. I tried to do my best pirate voice for some of the dialogue. Gratefully, the audience was quite receptive to my attempts at humor. No hecklers in that group. It would be a different story with my oldest son's 7th grade class. I can just see the eye rolling.

As many of you know, Joe has been having a tough year emotionally. I think we may have reached a turning point for him. Guess what he wanted as a present? A guitar. He is thrilled to own a guitar. He idolizes Chris Daughtry. I think he would shave his little head if I let him :) You should see him trying so hard to play songs. He actually wrote a few lyrics today. I took guitar lessons when I was little. With a smile in his eyes, he looks forward to sitting down with me to learn some chords. I think we'll look into getting him some formal lessons.

I'm so happy to think that I have my happy little boy back. Music turns out to be the answer for him. I guess music will have a special place in his heart too. I'm going to do all I can to encourage this interest in music. It turns out that I got a present on his birthday too.

I've Got The Music In Me

It's great to have The Beatles help me as I clean up the toy explosion in my sons' room.

Sorting the laundry with Mick Jagger may become a regular thing for me.

I can get used to a serenade from Sting while rinsing my dishes.

After months of waiting and hinting, I am happy to report that I have my own MP3 player (the new Sony Walkman). You all know how much I love my music. It's such a treat for me to have the chance to escape with my music as I go about my day. My oldest son showed me all the features of my new gadget. Funny that I have a gadget. Usually hubby is the master of those button happy things :)

As many of you predicted, I'm hooked now. Even making the bed is a musical experience for me. I have to hide it from Jillian sometimes. She doesn't want me listening to music when I should be playing dolls with her. She can be a tough task master when she's in play mode :)

I still have a ton of songs to download from my HUGE CD collection. I have four albums on the player right now. I'm a big Dave Matthews Band fan, so my favorite song to play over and over is "Crush".

As I build up my musical library, I'm curious to know what are some of your favorites. Is there one or two songs that you could listen to over and over again? I would love to know your recommendations. Are you surprised to hear that my son's play list doesn't have any choices for me? However, my son did want a Rolling Stones' song or two from me :) Who's the cool one now? I can see my son's smirk at that comment.

Thanks for sharing your songs with me. I'm excited to hear what "music is in you" :)

Time for a "Beatles" education

My son asks, "Mom, who were The Beatles?" We're sitting together now as I post this fun video. He seems intrigued. This 9 year old has great taste. He's tapping his foot along to the beat. Hope you enjoy it too!

Jumping on the Ipod Bandwagon

Considering my last post was about music, you would assume that I have an Ipod. You should see the horror on my 12 year old son's face when I pull out my CD's or even worse, my cassette tapes. What would he say if he saw some of my old albums? I remember sitting on my bed looking at album covers as my record player (my son just winced) played one of my favorite albums. Apparently, I'm a music dinosaur around here. Did you see that recent news story about the 13 year old who was trying to figure out how to work a Walkman? I think Yahoo referred to this device from my childhood as "ancient". What would that kid say if he saw those huge 8 tracks that my father used to have in our 1970's station wagon?

So this dinosaur will take the plunge and get an Ipod. I think I'll probably have it in the docking station most of the time. I don't know if I would use the headset too much. I like my music to fill the room.

You ever notice how a bunch of people wearing Ipods are all bouncing along to their own song. Since I enjoy live music, I'm a little saddened to see music becoming such a solitary experience. I understand why it is necessary, but I love being surrounded by a group of people all enjoying the same song. Our excitement and enjoyment for the music becomes contagious and enriches the listening experience even more.

I love that Beatles' song from my last post. My son was laughing at how many times I went back to my blog to listen to it. Music is a good moment to moment Mommy vitamin to help me get through my hectic day! The summer just started, and I am happily exhausted trying to keep my kids happy and busy. The days seem to be getting longer and longer. That can be good or bad depending on the kid excitement/tantrum barometer on a particular day.

The Ipod Shuffle is so small. I'm afraid of losing it. I hope it doesn't wind up in my son's Lego table or in my junk drawer. I'll have to wear it on a chain around my neck :) I better run to those July 4th sales to get an Ipod this weekend. Right now, I'm listening to some crazy cartoon banter, two boys begging me for pizza and my so called quiet dishwasher humming along. I think I'll have to get used to the Ipod headset.

Listen to music

Maybe I was a musician in my prior life. Sorry to say that I have no musical talent, but I follow where music leads me creatively, spiritually or personally.

Music caresses the soul; music shapes experience.

I try to make my world full of music. Songs like this one can bear much fruit for me.

Enjoy the beauty of this Beatles' favorite. I can listen to this 100 times and still feel like it's a fresh, moving experience each time. The lyrics and melody are amazing. Timeless.

Show time is approaching

Imagine organizing a bunch of fidgety, excited kindergarteners into a group of focused, choreographed performers. That is what my son's music teacher has been trying to accomplish for the past few weeks. If you were to take a peek in the auditorium during rehearsals, you would see all those adorable little faces lighting up when their music teacher applauds for a job well done. These young ones benefit so much from an early introduction to music appreciation. My kindergartener is so excited to come home and share his songs with all of us. Each night after dinner, he demonstrates the cute choreographed movements that will accompany the songs. At this young age, they are especially open to the joy of expressing themselves in music. They get so immersed in the whole experience; they don't overanalyze their performance. Even shyer kids like my son seem to get a burst of self-confidence when singing. Music education helps shape the whole child in a number of ways.

Like many school districts across the country, my school district will be cutting many teaching positions. Unfortunately, my son's school will lose this dedicated music teacher. Their music program next year will be limited since all of the schools will need to share a "floating" music teacher. All of the kids will be wondering where their favorite music teacher is next year.

The spring kindergarten show is a couple of days away. Led by a caring, enthusiastic music teacher, the kindergarten players will put on a sweet, fun performance for all of us to enjoy. As a parent, your heart swells with pride and love when you wave back to your smiling child at the end of a great show.

Those cute waves don't last forever. So enjoy them now. When the kids get older, they are often more "serious" as they stand on the stage. Unless they are musically inclined, the older ones want to look "cool" and not look too excited. Middle school kids are definitely more self-conscious when up on the stage. When I look at my older kids, I try to flashback to their kindergarten days. It's nice to remember that twinkle in a child's eye when belting out a sweet song like "Friendship".

I'm sad that our school's music program will not be as rich next year, but I know that this week's kindergarten extravanganza will be a real crowd pleaser :)

Enjoy your Saturday! I think I'll go rehearse with my kindergartener now.
Those songs just get stuck in your head :)

My song time

I switch into autopilot every morning around 6:30 a.m. I go through my morning routine like Robot Mama making sure that everyone gets what they need before they run out the door. It almost feels mechanical how I move around the kitchen each morning: Get the waffles in the toaster oven. Pour the drinks. Pour the cereal. Cut the banana. Get the lunches ready. Take out the vitamin bottle. Check the backpacks for homework and library books. Make sure everyone has socks. I guess you get the idea by now :) When I'm particularly in morning zombie mode, I'll screw up how I distribute everything to the kids. That's when I'll hear one of my gang say something like, "Mom, why are you handing me his cup?" Just going through the motions.

After everyone is gone off to school and work, I enjoy quiet time with my little girl as we have an uninterrupted girls' breakfast. It's nice not having to be "on" during that meal. I can just sit there and hopefully begin to wake up. My really favorite time in the morning is my after shower song time as I get dressed in my bedroom. I love to put on one of my favorite songs and spend those 2 or 3 minutes singing along. Sometimes my daughter will join in and dance a little too! Today, I listened to "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones. I absolutely love Norah's soothing voice and the almost mesmerizing melody of that song. I first heard it on "So You Think You Can Dance". It was such a beautiful piece accompanying an amazing dance interpretation. I can't wait until "So You Think You Can Dance" comes back. After watching the show, I know so much more about traditional and contemporary dance styles. Finding amazing singers has also greatly benefited my music collection. I really need to get that Ipod so I can have music with me all day. This two minutes in the morning and 5 minutes at the bus stop just isn't enough!

Drumming to our own beat

After my three boys go off to school, my little girl and I enjoy our girl time together. She loves her baby dolls and her "princess mommies". She likes having little conversations with each doll. That can keep her busy for a long time. Since my boys' energy levels can be off the charts some days, I enjoy these quiet play times with my daughter. In her room, she holds court for all her dolls and allows me to help her get them ready to be received : ) She likes that whole princess role. I expected to once again play dolls today, but she had other ideas. She discovered today that she can find drums all over the house and loved tapping out a beat for me to copy. Her little hands liked the couch drum the best. I had to redirect her once I saw her heading for Daddy's TV. Her joy in this new music game was contagious. I found myself getting a kick out of trying to think up new beats for her to try. By the end of our little drum run around the house, we were both smiling and tired. We got a good workout today. Our time together was not as quiet as usual, but she loved impressing me with her drum beats on all sorts of surfaces. It looks like the princess has left her throne to play as a musician for a while. She said that she wants to show her brothers this new game. That may be a scary proposition once the boys get involved. It will be one crazy concert for Daddy when he gets home. At least, the kids will be happily drumming along!

The Happy Child Performer

I can hear my daughter sing a melody of her own creation as she dances with her dolls. She just bursts into these little songs as she plays throughout the day. Her three year old world is so full of wonder, imagination and joy. I get a kick out of hearing her add funny details to her songs. If she catches me watching her, she will add cute gestures or facial expressions to keep my interest. Isn't it great to see how little children feel so free to express themselves through song, dance or storytelling in the comfort of their home. The young child's creative spark can't help but light up a home. If I'm having a particularly stressful day, I can forget some of my worries as I watch my little fairy princess singing her favorite Cinderella song as she twirls about.

Children have a natural desire to express themselves through music. They get to sing and dance without any concern about criticism or technique. They just jump right into the music and allow the song to drive their happiness if even for a few moments.

So feel free to sing and see if you found another little way to create some happiness!