The Mad Scramble

It's the last day of the school year tomorrow, and I'm so proud of my rising 4th and 5th graders. They have handled having their lives uprooted in the last month of school with aplomb. Next week, they're off to camp-- happily and with excitement. How terrific for us all: a break from routine on all ends.

But, before they leave, logistical concerns must be addressed.

The main affair this week is to finish packing for camp, as the bags are being picked up by the mandatory luggage delivery service on Friday. This is a challenge. The camp packing list requires a very large number of garments (9 shorts? 15 shirts? 20 socks? Yowza), way more than we usually have in rotation. The challenge of laying out all these clothes, in addition to the flashlights, sleeping bags, shoe bags, and other required accoutrement, in the kids' shared bedroom that has not yet been entirely unpacked from our move, has been formidable, to say the least. We'll get those bags packed, but it may be in the middle of the night on Thursday, after I've washed and dried everything the girls have worn this week. Of course, once the bags are packed, the kids will have to go naked until they leave for camp on Tuesday.

So here I am, trying to dot all the i's for camp, and looking forward to a nice long summer break, when I realize the end of this school year means I'm supposed to be thinking about NEXT school year. That's right. School medical forms are due by the end of June. Better get on that. Summer reading lists have also been distributed, so I suppose I should go through the lists and put together a nutritious book pack for each girl. Also, a friend reminded me that I need to sign up for after school programs now, otherwise my children may get shut out of their desired classes next fall.

Sometimes I think it's a wonder that my kids have had the benefit of any kind of formal education at all. It means I've somehow managed to get the forms in, and get the packing done, and make the registration dates, for this and for that, year in and year out. Although each time, it seems like a mad scramble.

My method (if there is one)? Part putting best foot forward in terms of organization and planning, and part simple belief that it will all work out in the end. My girls will get to camp with plenty of stuff in their bags, and if they happen to have one-too-few pajama tops, they will borrow a friend's or wear a t-shirt or otherwise problem-solve their way out of this imagined disaster. You just gotta believe. And, probably best to get those medical forms in, too.

Goodbye, So Long, Farewell to Music Together

"Hello everybody, we're so glad to see you..."

Yesterday I graduated from Music Together. It took me a long time--my first class was about 9 years ago. Louisa and I took it together three times. I would guess that I probably took it three times each with Bella and Ruby, too...although they were close enough in age that their classes overlapped (we went all three together), so maybe it was less. In any case, that's a LOT of singing the Hello Song.

Other than this one class, I was never big on baby and toddler classes. Ruby was full of energy and not into sitting in a circle, so after Bella started preschool, we stopped going to music and did a movement 'class' (indoor playground) at the Y once a week, when she was about 18 months. For New Yorkers, it's hard to know what to do with energetic toddlers in the winter. It's not uncommon for toddlers here to be enrolled in such classes as: soccer, cooking, art, gymnastics, yoga, ballet, etc. Some kids go to a class every day, or even more than one a day. But not mine.

So what kept me going back to Music Together?

• Routine: It's nice to have a place to go with a toddler, for routine, for a change of scenery, and for socialization. Especially for Louisa, the poor third child (see: Different Child, Different Parent.)
• Friends: Bella and I first went to MT with Missy and Anna, our original mom/ daughter friends. Back then, when Missy and I each only had one kid, it was great to have a scheduled weekly place to bond with another mom.
• Teacher: Erin Lee Kelly taught all three of my girls (even though there was a 6.5-year break). She can rock out with the toddlers, I'm telling you. She also has a lovely voice and a talent for getting nannies to sing rounds. We tried another MT teacher once--and then we went back to Erin. She's the best.
• Songs: Yes, the songs are hokey, but they're also catchy and have a real nice hippy vibe. (Josh jokes that Uncle Jerry is Jerry Garcia.) Louisa is so attached to the music that we are often held hostage to her musical tastes in the car: if that MT cd that we've all heard a thousand and a half times isn't playing, she will cry until we put it on. On the bright side, we know how to make her stop crying in the car.
• Music Enrichment: All three of my kids love music. Granted, their dad, grandma, and uncles are musicians, so it's an important part of our family culture. But they each love music in their own way. Bella likes to sing, Ruby likes to pick out songs on the piano and on the guitar, and Louisa hums all day long--often imitating strings of notes that she hears, just as she was taught to do at MT. The early experimentation with instruments, rhythms, and voice reminds me of the way that my kids experimented with art-making using a variety of materials in their Reggio Emilia preschool. It encourages kids to take in music viscerally, and to take ownership of the experience of music-making. Okay, maybe that sounds like a load of BS. But it's actually engaging and fun.

Despite all this, I must confess that lately I was finding it harder and harder to get myself to MT. The class is full of nannies, who seem lovely but who don't provide me with companionship. It's a long walk, and I'm often rushing to get there because of whatever meshugas is happening at home early on a Thursday morning. And it's getting to be nice outside, finally, so we can go to the playground for physical exercise instead. 

We're not done with music: we've just started six weeks of Bim Bom Baby, led by Cantor Shayna Postman, at our shul. The first one was this week, and Louisa loved it. Next fall, she'll start preschool. But Music Together is finally a part of my past. 

"Goodbye, so long, farewell, my friends...."