Quiet down.
Dude, no shouting.
Lower the volume.
Keep it down.
No yelling.
Not so loud.
People are sleeping.
What did I tell you about being noisy?
Shhhhhhhhhhh.
This is what my four-year old son and one-year old daughter heard for most of their short toddler life. I don’t really live in a country-like atmosphere where your next-door neighbor lives like an acre away. We got thin walls here in the city. Sound travels and not everybody appreciates the musical creativeness of banging on pots, pans, and empty five-gallon Sparkletts water bottles. Some people may not enjoy the Guat’s version of STOMP or The Blue Man group. They’d prefer the real thing. So I needed to regulate the noise level in our living room from time to time.
Well … in truth sometimes my son was just too loud in general, while his sister was napping, and that put an end to a much-needed nap, which was not cool. So the shushing might have been an everyday occurrence outside of our “music time”.
But not today.
Today my kids, got a chance to rock out with all kinds of instruments on our all day music adventure. We headed out to a couple of free musical workshops where my kids got a chance to jam it without hearing one shush from me. They rocked out STOMP/Blue Man Group style and they loved it. I wasn’t sure everybody else was jamming it, but I know my kids were … Sandbox List Adventure No. 2 … Check!
At the first workshop, my kids were not shy about checking out the instruments … We were new to the scene but made ourselves feel welcome.
My kids jamming it with their mini tambourines, jingle bells, and castanets. Grooving to the Beatles. Yeah … I know … the Beatles.
My son warming up on some little Target drums before we hit the Big Leagues.
The Big Leagues. We hit our second workshop: A Drum Circle. Our very first. And it wasn’t really a circle more like a gigantic oval. But no matter the shape, the Guats came ready to rock the rhythm party.
My daughter ready to jam it, as my son, sitting next to her, keeps up the pace.
But it wasn’t only drums and percussion beats at this awesome musical hangout, there was some microphone action, too. And as the drum leader asked for volunteers my son jumped at the opportunity to test his singing skills. After hearing the ABC song from a cute little girl, the Itsy-Bitsy-Spider song from another little boy, my son decides to sing “One Thing,” from One Direction, followed by a Maroon 5 ditty.
I was all smiles and laughter. No shushing at all.
Rocking out … rocks. We’ll definitely be back.
The Wish Factor 
That second workshop looked like it was a lot of fun. My daughters are older now, so I had forgotten just how loud pots and pans can be. I was reminded when my wife began to provide daycare for a two-year old. Man, that’s loud! But children love it. There was only one thing I could do. Pick up a wooden spoon, get on floor, grab a pot and join her. Clang, clang, clang.
Yes! That drum circle was very awesome. I really enjoyed jamming and rocking to the rhythms with my kids. They really enjoyed it. They loved the no-shush zone.
That’s great…encourage them now. My better half grew up with a music teacher and now I get to enjoy free singing concerts all of the time. Music is part of our daily life and I feel it does wonders for my soul.
I would love to be a super music star, but all Fate gave me was awesome dance moves. But I plan on learning guitar this year…one of my many goals, inspired by you and your 50 year project 🙂