Hello, everybody! We’ve gathered some ideas that might make this time of the year a bit easier. Thanks for a terrific FLUTES collection!
I’ve been sorting the final list for this year’s Holiday classes, and last weekend, I had to make a decidedly un-festive return at the mall. And, y’all, Santa was already there. You may know this, and for parents, getting a peek at their children’s wishes this early may eliminate some guesswork. But it just struck me that, dang, this just gets earlier every year. Soundtrack, decorations, the whole deal.
The mall holiday music loop has been shown, in fact, to increase stress. British Clinical Psychologist Linda Blair says hearing songs of the season can conjure thoughts of the long list of tasks that comes with the end of the calendar year. “You may feel overwhelmed by your to-do list, and being constantly reminded by the sound of sleigh bells ringing (and ringing and ringing) does not help”, Blair says.
In our holiday classes we do songs and activities that you don’t hear everywhere else (on repeat.) We’ll give you new versions of old faves, introduce you to songs from other places and other celebrations, sprinkle in some Music Together® classics, Rudolph usually makes an appearance, we’ll jingle some bells, spin some dreidels. Our hope for this short session is that it will allow space for you to make your own family memories; maybe happen upon a new artist or version of an old song that gets into your young family’s heavy holiday rotation for years to come. We all know that everything is new to our little ones. We need to get in on that vibe by making songs of the season new for us, too.
In this gifting season, a perfect way to marry play with making progress on gift lists is to consider creating a basket of child-safe musical instruments. Music Together in NJ (headquarters) has a terrific offer: a free pair of red egg shakers ($5.50 value) with your order of $30 or more. We get nearly all of our MT of C instruments and props from them because they have done the homework: the selection is child-safe, durable, very good sound quality, affordable. You can order here, Music Together store, enter code SHAKE19 at checkout. We enthusiastically recommend you check this out and watch your littles enjoy the gift of music!
Fast- approaching is the season of routines and schedules being turned upside down. Here’s a friendly reminder that loads of places have kids eat free or very cheap offers every day of the week, cheap eats. Running from one celebration to another? Fear not. These places will get you and your peeps fed, and onto the next thing.
Ta-ta for now. We are taking a break from Music Mondays blogs ‘til the new year. As ever, reach out to us or your teacher for ideas about bringing music into your family’s life, to share stories of precious moments, to get info on our gift certificates for holiday gift giving and receiving, registration dates….in whatever way we can be of assistance and support. We hope to see you for the Holiday session. It gets us in the December groove with joy and fun, every year! Please join us, and Happy 2020!
Carrie and Phyllis