Rivergate Kids Club and The Nashville Parent Present Stacy Jagger and the Music With Mommie Jug Band!
This Friday, April 11th at 11am, Stacy Jagger and the Music With Mommie Jug Band will take over Center Court at the Rivergate Mall. It will be 45 minutes of toe-tapping fun for all ages with some great jug band versions of your favorite classic children's songs, complete with a couple of guitar picking mammas, and yes, a jug-playing mamma!
Come on out and bring the kids! This is something you definitely don't want to miss!!!!
Where: Rivergate Mall
When: Friday, April 11th at 11am
Cost: FREE!!
Sponsored in part by the Nashville Parent magazine.
Keep Those Reviews Coming!!
Thank you so much to all of you who have written such glowing reviews of the Music With Mommie Live! cd. We appreciate all of your kind words. For those of you who haven't yet, you may go online and write a review of your own. Let other mommies know what you and your child like best!
Just follow the easy instructions on this link:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/musicwithmommie
The names of all who contribute a review will go into a drawing for a month of free classes!!!!!
Walk to Support Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
We have some mommies who are participating in the Great Strides walk to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The walk will be held at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere on May 17th at 8 am. The walk is family friendly and the kiddos are welcome to join in the fun. It's a great day at the zoo for a great cause.
In the past, we have had mommies participate in the Breast Cancer walk and it was such a rewarding and fun experience for all of them!
If you'd like more information on how you can join the walk or to support the walkers, email KC Hopkins and she will get you in touch with the right folks!
kchopkins@musicwithmommie.com
All Day Long by Gaynell Payne
Originally published in the February 2008 issue of the Nashville Parent magazine.
Mommy Songbird
I’m one of those people who hates the sound of her own voice. The one who spends a whole weekend and resorts to gimmicks to record a simple 5 second message on her answering machine. So when I read, shortly after my son was born, that my newborn preferred his mother’s voice more than anyone else’s, I was skeptical. Surely this isn’t always the case. Perhaps it’s true of say, Celine Dion’s lucky baby.
But I took it to heart and began to babble in earnest to my baby. Because whatever made him happier, I was ready to give. And in spite of my misgivings, he seemed to like it.
I was later told that not only did he like it when I talked to him, but he’d love it if I sang to him! Now that was going too far. No one liked to hear me sing. The only time I sang was in my car driving down the interstate, windows rolled up and stereo so loud I couldn’t even hear myself. Surely my sweet angel couldn’t be so tone deaf.
But I tried it. Softly at first, as not to frighten him with my banshee wails. Then I witnessed something strange. His eyes would light up – I swear they did. He’d calm if he’d been fussy. Sometimes he’d smile. He – liked – it!
Babies not only prefer the sound of their mother’s voice above all else (eat your heart out, Bing Crosby), but they learn from listening to mommy better than anyone else. That means that you can plop them in front of Sesame Street all day long, but they’ll learn the alphabet much faster if they hear it from you. Mommy’s even more fascinating than Snuffleupagus.
When parents take the time to “chatter” – talking about your day, describing what you’re doing as you do it, explaining what will happen next – your child’s world is expanding with every sentence.
Music especially holds a fascination for all ages. As you sing songs to your child he’s learning about language, communication, and the world around him. Using hand movements gives him an opportunity to “communicate” in song before he can speak and helps promote motor skills.
Now I sing all the time. I even imagine that I’ve learned how to (mostly) stay in key. My efforts have already been richly rewarded. When I sing, my 16 month old loudly “sings” with me. Even more off-key and out of tune than I do. It is absolutely the most beautiful sound in the world. When I sing the ABC’s he sings “bee beee beee deeee!” with gusto. He’s fascinated with all things musical, even making me stop on the arts channel to hear the orchestra. When I play the stereo we both sing and dance along to Bing Crosby.
It is likely that I will always only have a fan base of one. Record labels won’t be knocking on my door, music halls won’t be sold out in my name. But in my son’s eyes I am a songbird just for him. And that is reason enough to sing.
Gaynell Payne and her son, Jaden attend Music With Mommie classes in Hendersonville.
Inspiration
Sing, Sing a song, Sing out loud, Sing out strong, Sing of good things, not bad, Sing of happy, not sad, Sing, Sing a song, Make it simple, To last your whole life long, Don't worry that it's not good enough, For anyone else to hear, Sing, sing a song.
-Joe Raposo
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