Music seriously hits a chord with me. It's how I live my days. Whether I have a tune or an annoying little commercial jingle in my head, it is how I start each day. The music, the rhythm, the lyrics...they all play a part in how my mood is or how it turns out to be. I also have to feel motivated enough when I am feeling down to WANT to feel "up" enough to turn on that "feel-good" music to snap me out of it and get me back to feeling ME.
In life, there seem to be different musical themes and soundtracks. For instance, Christmas would not be right without the sweet sounding carols that are played throughout the season. Summertime is another fun, musical time of year. The latest tunes can be heard from houses, beaches, parties and from cars going by.
We all have our own soundtrack. Songs that bring us back to our past in just an instant. It has to be one of the neatest phenomenons when we feel that we are transported back in time as soon as a radio station plays a song. I wonder what songs might bring my children back to this place in time RIGHT NOW. I wonder what songs will do the same for me? Some time in the future, I might be at the grocery store and a song will come on and I will then be transported back to sitting in my son's room while he is napping and I am writing my blog. I will be in this place right at this very moment even if for just four minutes. How magical that is.
Music helps me make dinner, dance with my children and decorate for Christmas. Music makes me feel better, sing better and write better. It makes me feel for other people, share and understand another point of view and focus on feelings. Music can break my heart, make me cry and tell a story better. Sometimes, it's another writers words that helps me to explain what I am feeling better than mine can and the musical tones behind the words just drives the point home.
I love sharing music with my kids. I give them a palate full of different music to listen to. From Frank Sinatra to Dave Matthews to Jack Johnson to Justin Timberlake and everything in between. I shouldn't be surprised when I hear Kyle singing out loud while he is playing or humming the tune to General Hospital while he is taking his shoes off. I shouldn't be surprised when I hear Charlie singing at the top of his lungs "Video Killed the Radio Star" while he is having Buzz Light Year and Woody battle it out with Emperor Zurg. I shouldn't be surprised. But I am. It surprises me, makes me laugh and gives me such a warm feeling inside. I'd like to think they are picking up good habits from me and not just those bad moments I have when I shout out a word because I stubbed my toe.
Nighttime consist of stories read and songs sung by me or my husband. And Charlie melts my heart when he serenades me with the Sound of Music soundtrack that he knows word for word. The cuteness is just too much to comprehend when he is singing with such passion and emotion "...when the DOG BITES, when the BEE STINGS...when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel soooo bad."
I have been told this is the time that children learn at their best. They can pick up words, songs, even another language because their brains are like sponges right now. So I teach them manners, sign language, numbers and letters and yes, MUSIC. I am in no way a musician, nor do I know how to read musical notes and cannot sing in a kind of voice anyone would want to hear on the radio. But I am an avid listener of what I would consider a plethora of good music. Someday, I would like to learn how to play piano. Who knows, maybe one of my boys will teach ME.
So sometimes you might find me drifting off to another time and space because of a random melody that found it's way into a current playlist.... but for now, I live in this moment with my children and my husband listening, dancing, playing and singing to our own soundtrack.
