William James

When I was a teenager, I was really interested in the performing arts.  I loved music.  I wrote songs, I played guitar, I acted in plays, I danced, but I did not have a very powerful singing voice.  My [...]]]> “I don’t sing because I’m happy; I’m happy because I sing.”

William James

When I was a teenager, I was really interested in the performing arts.  I loved music.  I wrote songs, I played guitar, I acted in plays, I danced, but I did not have a very powerful singing voice.  My ever-supportive parents arranged for me to have private vocal instruction with a lady named Joyce Court.  After several rather frustrating singing lessons, dear Mrs. Court said to my mom and I, “Have you thought about modeling, Karen?”  In other words, I was not going to make it as a singer.  I had a good ear, I could read music, and I could definitely carry a tune, but I just didn’t sound that great.

I moved on.  My experience with Mrs. Court definitely discouraged me from performing songs in a public forum, but it certainly didn’t stop me from singing for pure enjoyment.  I used to sing with my students when I was teaching, and now I literally sing ALL THE TIME with my daughters.  Singing soothes babies and older children alike.  If my daughters are cranky, I can always distract them with a little song.

The cool thing is, my daughters don’t give a damn whether or not I have a good singing voice, they call for encores all the time!  I sing kids’ songs, current songs, lullabies, Abba, soundtracks from musicals such as The Sound of Music, and I also make-up my own ‘running-commentary’ type songs.  These are the tunes that would probably be most irritating to any other adult within earshot, but they work.  I often pick showtunes like, “New York, New York,” and change up the lyrics… ‘Start getting your shoes,”  (instead of ‘Start spreading the news…’)   “and put on your socks, we’ll get our winter jackets on, and head outside.”   I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this.

I’m reminded of a former colleague of mine, who taught second grade, and used to sing and hum constantly.  Sometimes she’d even sing her responses to her students.  I thought she was rather loopy at the time, but I don’t anymore.  I get it.  Even my mom is a hummer.  I never recognize the songs she hums, and perhaps they are just a random collection of notes.  Maybe she just hums for humming’s sake, but that doesn’t matter, does it?

I’ve noticed recently that Pip and Fig also launch into operetta-style conversations very naturally, as though it’s just another acceptable form of communicating.  I’m thinking it might make difficult conversations go a lot smoother in the future.  Imagine if Pip confronted me one day and sang, “Mama Mia, Here I go again, My My, Can I get my tongue pierced?”

Rebecca Krook

I was inspired by my sister yesterday.  (It’s not unusual, I’m frequently inspired by her!)  She’s home-schooling my five-year-old niece as well as working part-time and mothering [...]]]> “When kids play they remember, they may not be aware that they are learning, but they sure are aware that they are having fun.”

Rebecca Krook

I was inspired by my sister yesterday.  (It’s not unusual, I’m frequently inspired by her!)  She’s home-schooling my five-year-old niece as well as working part-time and mothering a younger son!  She has always been extremely organized, so I wasn’t surprised when I saw a timetable of children’s activities on her kitchen bulletin-board.  She schedules physical activity time, unstructured play-time, structured learning time, and off-campus lessons into her days with the kids, so that all bases are covered.

I thought of her schedule yesterday when I woke up to a wet and grey morning and was faced with the prospect of surviving a full day indoors with two sick children.   At 8:00 am, when both girls are usually in top-form, they were already melting down into a pool of discomfort.  What on earth were we going to do for the next nine hours?

When I was a teacher, I’d write an agenda on the board each day and call it, ‘The Shape of the Day.’  That’s exactly what our day needed: some shape!

After breakfast, I brought out the massive box of play-doh and assorted plastic accessories.  Pip and I taught Fig a few colours and shapes and we showed her how to roll the play-doh into a long snake.

Pip opened up a play-doh restaurant and prepared yellow and black spaghetti for us, then she made me a big black heart and said, “Here Mama, this is a big heart for all of your love.”  (I didn’t let Pip’s colour choice alarm me.)

The girls were happily occupied for almost an hour, and I enjoyed being their full-time facilitator.  Cleaning-up was great because Fig spotted the feather-duster and Pip wanted to use the broom, so there was some impromptu house-cleaning that took at least thirty minutes!

Next we got moving.  I put Peter Gabriel on the stereo, (he is one of Pip’s favourites,) got the ‘musical instrument basket’ out, and we danced for about fifteen minutes.  The girls then paraded around the house with their drums while I cooked lunch.

After lunch it was reading time.  The three of us cuddled on the couch and read a few books, then it was time for Fig’s nap.

Yay!  It was HALF-TIME , and everyone was in great spirits.

I won’t bore you with our afternoon activities, but I will say that structuring the day worked brilliantly.  I set aside housework, phone-calls and errands to create a completely child-centered day, and on THIS particular day, it was a wise choice.

It did feel a little bit like my days in the classroom, however, as a teacher, you dismiss your kids at 3:00 and have time to catch up on marking, prepping, making phone-calls, putting up displays and organizing the classroom!  Big difference.

It’s all one big balancing act, isn’t it?

Chris Stevens from ‘Northern Exposure’

Does anyone remember the show, ‘Northern Exposure?’  I was a fan.  My girlfriend Desiree and I even took a small detour during a road-trip [...]]]> “Rain usually makes me feel mellow: curl up in a corner time, slow down, smell the furniture. Today… it just makes me feel wet.”

Chris Stevens from ‘Northern Exposure’

Does anyone remember the show, ‘Northern Exposure?’  I was a fan.  My girlfriend Desiree and I even took a small detour during a road-trip to Seattle to visit the town, (Rosalind,) in which the television show was shot.  It was a funky little place.

The show was beautifully written and I always had a notebook by my side when it was on so that I could jot down quotations.  (You see, I’m a quote-collector from way-back!)  At the end of one poignant episode, Ed and Chris, (my two favourite characters,) are trying to figure out how to comfort a lonely bird.  I think it was a crane.  They surmised that the crane was doing a mating dance and wanted a partner, so Chris suggested that they dance with it.  One of my favourite lines during that episode came after Ed asked, “How should we dance?”

Chris replied, “With abandon.”  The scene ended with the two grown men dancing with the crane in a beautiful outdoor location.

My daughters dance with abandon.  It’s a sight to behold.  In fact, they do a lot of things with abandon: play, sing, run…

What a great way to live.

Ludwig van Beethoven

We’re a musical family.  Big Daddy-O and I both play guitar, I play the djembe, and our daughters already play a plethora of instruments.  If we’re not parading around the [...]]]> “Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.”

Ludwig van Beethoven

We’re a musical family.  Big Daddy-O and I both play guitar, I play the djembe, and our daughters already play a plethora of instruments.  If we’re not parading around the house making the music ourselves, we’re listening to it on the stereo.  The girls are exposed to many different genres but, I have to admit, we don’t listen to a lot of ‘Kids’ music.  It would be more likely for Pip to launch into, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” than, “Old MacDonald,” any day of the week.

Pip recognizes many of the artists by name, and the other day we were making dinner together when she asked, “Mama, is this Buzz?”

“What Sweetie?”

“Is this Buzz who is singing this song?  Is it Buzz?”

It was Sting.

Elvis Presley

Local people will know that KidsFest was held this past weekend and Swarm was one of the main acts.  I wrote a post [...]]]> “Rhythm is something you either have or you don’t have, but when you have it, you have it all over.”

Elvis Presley

Local people will know that KidsFest was held this past weekend and Swarm was one of the main acts.  I wrote a post about them months ago because I used to be a member of Swarm when I was living in Vancouver, and I miss playing with them.

Bill, the director of the group, creates all of the drums and other instruments out of recycled materials.  They’re an exciting band to watch and even more exciting to play with; the rhythms are funky, the drums spin and roll,  the choreography is unique and the performers are highly entertaining.

Pip and I, along with my sister and niece, went to see my old band-mates, and they did not disappoint.  They have done an amazing job of adapting their show to suit children and it was obvious that the audience loved them.

After I had introduced the Swarm members to my daughter, we made plans to meet-up and I headed home to drop Pip off with her dad and sister.  Pip didn’t say much about the band or the performance.  She was pretty subdued during the ride home.

At dinner-time however, she said, “Mama, you know those curious little people who are your friends,”  (it’s true; she really called them ‘curious little people.’)

“Yes,” I said, barely able to contain myself.

“I’d like to see them again.  They had some interesting music.”

Well-said, Pip.