family
“Without
music, life would be a mistake.”
-Friedrich
Nietzsche
I love music. I love that it inspires, moves,
soothes, and speaks to us. Music has always held a very important place
in my life. And as a mother, music
has been an instrumental part of my parenting my twins.
We play music all the
time in our home, in our car, on vacation. Our children are growing up
with what we hope are rich and varied musical tastes that include jazz, rap,
hip-hop, country, rock, alternative, bluegrass, and more.
Our twins M and J
love music, too. Now that they are
9, it’s inspiring to see how they are taking more and more control and shaping
their own musical tastes to suite their individual personalities and
preferences. It’s incredible to
witness how they see, feel, hear and discover music. It’s also such a gift to experience the discovery of music
again through their eyes and ears.
When the twins were little,
we attended Music Together classes.
Later, we held our own dance parties at home. Today, we often have spontaneous dancing session on the
weekends.
J, our daughter,
loves to sing her favorite tunes throughout the house, in the car, at the
grocery store. She often invents
special dances to match her songs.
She sings radio hits and also makes up songs on whim.
M, who has sensory processing
and special needs, listens to music in a different way than his sister. He
likes to play CDs in his room and really listen to the nuances of the music in
the quiet of his bedroom. Music creates calm and focus for him.
The twins both have
great musical ears and we often play games as a family -- name that song or
name that artist. It’s fun and lively to hear them scream out The Rolling
Stones, The Beatles, Madonna, or Adele.
Soon, we’ll start the next chapter of our musical journey: learning to play an instrument and / or singing.
As J and M discover
music, I discover it along with them — it’s miraculous how some of my old favorites sound brand new
when I hear and experience the music with J and M. Whether it’s a classic like James Taylor or Lucinda Williams
or Edith Piaf or a new modern artist like Selena Gomez, the music moves us and
connects us all as a family.
There is freedom in
music — there are no rules for listening and no rules for how to enjoy
it. Music marks time and creates memories. Music is a living and breathing experience. Already, music has created unique
beautiful memories for our family. Memories that I’ll treasure every time I
hear a certain song.
What are some of your
favorite artists or songs and how have they created a special memory for your
family?
Here’s to the Magic
of Music in your family!
Laura Rossi Totten is a blogger and a public relations expert. Her blog My So-Called Sensory Life: 365 Unexpected Gifts from Motherhood celebrates the daily gifts of motherhood.
Laura and her writing have been
featured many places including NPR ‘s
WRNI-FM, Moonfrye.com, CircleofMoms.com, SheWrites.com, The
Chronicle of Higher Education, Babble.com, Just Be Enough and more.
Follow her on Twitter @BookPRGirl or Pinterest
http://pinterest.com/bookprgirl/ or visit
www.LauraRossiPublicRelations.com.
