Having a bad day?
Drop everything and do this:
Put on your favorite music (it doesn't matter what, as long as it's your favorite), scoop up the nearest small child and dance with her. Twirl her, hold her, make her laugh, and kiss her sweet cheeks.
It works. It works with all kinds of music. If you love the music, it will change the moment.
This morning, I danced with Ramona in the kitchen. We were listening to "The Water is Wide" (yes, this was more the glide-and-sway, rather than the toss-and-twirl variety of dance) and this is what she said:
"This song reminds me of how much I love my family."
And it changed our day.
Atticus recently reminded me of this quote, which sums up that feeling we get when music reaches into our depths:
"All art aspires to the condition of music." ~~ Walter Pater
I was reminded of it again last night. Atticus and I were hunting down videos on YouTube so that the girls could hear first-hand some of the songs that he and I sing off-key. As I tossed and twirled Ramona to the Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" and did a glide-and-sway to "Just My Imagination," I knew it was true: it's impossible to feel depressed when you're dancing in the kitchen with someone you love.
5 comments:
What a great post. And so true! Did you find a favourite song with your girls when they were little? My sister recommended dancing with my first when he was fussy and we definitely danced a lot his first year. His favourite (or perhaps mine...hmmm) was Nina Simone's My Baby Just Cares for Me. A baby standard here now. We also love Youtube now that they're older and it's hilarious to show them Dad's favourites versus Mum's favourites (God Save the Queen by The Clash versus Run, Runaway by Great Big Sea or something from the 80s like They Don't Know by Tracey Ullman...) and others. The Proclaimers. Elvis. The Beatles. Great for rainy days when we're all squirrel-ly.
Would be fun to see what other mums suggest as their favourites to expand our Youtube rainy day viewing.... ;-)
Oh I so agree! There's nothing like dancing in the kitchen with my girls. They both adore That's Amore! Isabella chimes in and Sophia giggles.
Thanks for the inspiration, Karen. I'll have to play The Water is Wide for them tomorrow. Isabella was asleep when I first listened, though Sophia was nursing and had to pull off so she could crane her neck and look at the computer. Obviously we didn't dance at that time. :)
Pittsburgh Irish singer/songwriter Mike Gallagher (guitar, vocal) and I (Irish whistle) just played The Water is Wide as an interlude for a short story written by Father Richard Infante', who is pastor of Our Lady of Grace church in Pittsburgh. I don't know if he's sharing copies of this, but he should. It's a great short story. I intend to put that song on Whistleworks III, whenever I scrape up enough to get this project done.
Oh, and grab a young child and waltz "HER" around? Ahem.....
Karen, it would be hard to narrow it down to one favorite dancing song with them -- there have been so many over the years!
Enjoy, Melanie. :-)
Sorry, Bob ... I have only girls. Girls are what I know. :-)
PS - We listened to several versions of The Water is Wide - lovely. I've never heard it before and love it.
Melanie B - That's Amore is brilliant. Also a hit with my loonie birds. It's fun to have suggestions to keep things fresh and different for all of us.
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