Making Beautiful Music Together

When I was four years old, my mother took me to Kindermusik
classes -- some of the first in the U.S. My mom then became my first
piano teacher, starting me on lessons that would last through three
other teachers until I graduated high school. Later, my mom became a Musikgarten teacher, singing and dancing with other moms and babies.

Given
that history, and the fact that my kids really love all sorts of music
and dancing, I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I finally took
Junius and Pippi to our first music class
last week. But better late than never -- all three of us had a great
time singing, playing, dancing and jumping along with Ms. Angela and
the nine other mommies and 12 other children. In addition to being
great fun in a musical learning environment, it's also one of the few
activities I could take the kids to at the same time -- not a lot of
kids programs are open to both a 4-year-old and a 19-month-old.

During
the class, Ms. Angela encouraged all the mommies to sing regularly to
their children. "No matter what you think your voice sounds like," she
said, "your children will think it's the most beautiful sound they've
ever heard." I liked that advice and decided this was a good time to
stop listening to NPR in the car and start singing along with our new Music Together CD.

So
on our way to Nanna and PopPop's house last week, I put in the disc --
the kids were smiling and clapping and trying to sing along. And I'm
thinking what a great mommy I am that I can take them to this fun class
and then sing with them in the car and how happy they must be to hear
my beautiful voice.

Then Junius pipes up from the back seat. "Mommy," he says. "When you are singing...?"

And
I'm waiting for him to say how much fun it is when I sing and he can
sing and Pippi is learning to sing and how much he loves me...

"Mommy, when you are singing," he says, "I can't hear the music. Mommy, please don't sing."

His comment left me speechless, thus having the desired effect.

I'm just hoping he won't complain when I start singing even louder in class this week.

When Cyndi isn't offending her son by trying to sing with Music Together, she and her kids like to rock out with Big Bang Boom, They Might Be Giants and Barenaked Ladies. She can also be found writing at Junius & Pippi Take the Cake.