songs as group therapy

We just started the fall singing program at Rockridge Little School last week. I try and report to the parents what is going on with music at the school on their blog. Here is my offering for this week.

Music with Karl -September 25, 2007

It was good to get back to singing with your children today. It is fun that we have so many songs we already know and a number of songs that have become favorites with the kids. I know our new friends will catch on quickly. It is so nice to be part of a program with such a rich and diverse program. Coming to Rockridge Little School is such an adventure. As I look around at all the projects going on I wish I could just hang out and create with them.

Today we added a couple of new songs to our mix.

One song is called “It hasn’t been a very good day”. Each morning, when I first step into the circle with the children, I am greeted with a litany of their cuts, scraps and recent (and not so recent) mishaps. These are real hurts for them and I know that many were accompanied with tears. The song is a cleave way of putting these hurts into a community song and recognizing life with its ups and downs, joys and sorrows.

Here’s how the song goes…
When I got up, I spilled my milk, spilled my milk, spilled my milk
When I got up, I spilled my milk, and it hasn’t been a very good day

Chorus (very upbeat and whimsical)
It hasn’t been a very good day so far. It hasn’t been a very good day.
It hasn’t been a very good day so far. It hasn’t been a very good day.

We added verses like…
“When I fell down, I skinned my knee” and “Playing with blocks I pinched my finger"

What I like about the song is that is recognizes that our hurts are real but when put into a song and shared them with the community it does not seem to hurt as much anymore.

Wouldn’t be great if we all learned this song and when your child (or you) are having just one of those “not very good days” you can break out this song and just maybe it would change the course of your day. That is really what our singing is about.

In Song, Karl