Confessions from the Music Room Floor

Confession #1: Help, I Need Friends!

I admit it: I started my first child in Kindermusik when she was only four months old, not because I thought she’d be a child prodigy but because I was a desperate mom looking for an excuse to get out of the house. There I said it. I was looking for something for me to do with a four-month-old, and let’s face it, gymnastics is really not an option at that age. Now I wasn’t just looking for an excuse to get out of the house, I was also really looking for friends. And whether I knew it at the time or not, I was looking for comfort in the fact that I was not alone with the trials and tribulations of being a new mom; I was looking for a community with whom to share the ups and downs.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love music. Music has always been a part of my life, so, as excuses go, Kindermusik seemed like a good fit for me and my not-yet-sitting-up child. What I didn’t count on was that Kindermusik was really the perfect activity for us. Not only has my daughter gotten more out of it than I could have expected (she loves music; she’s ahead of the curve in reading and math; and she has a way for her shy self to communicate comfortably – song), it has given me (the desperate mom) the friends I was looking for and the support and community I didn’t even know I needed at the time. So, here we are, five years later, with my second daughter also in Kindermusik classes, and I can look back and say that it actually wasn’t so silly to begin Kindermusik with a child that young (even if my motives were desperate).

Whether you begin at birth or two years old, or even five years old, I have learned that it is never too late to join this wonderful community and to come looking for friends under the guise of giving your children the gift of music. Oh, wait, we actually are giving our children the gift of music too!

-posted by Erika Kapur – whose five-year-old is really learning how to read music!