Music to Start the School Day Right!
unwind August 14th, 2009
As I’ve said seven billion times before…I really like to use music to create a comfortable, calming ambiance in my home. As Trent starts back to school on Monday, I thought I might tell you a little about the music that helped/helps my own children wake up, calm down and start their day right.
You’ll laugh, I’m sure…but this time of year, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is/was playing when my kids wake up. I find it’s mellow, soothing…not too Christmassy, but just enough so to lighten their hearts. (The first day of school always finds Pumpkin Cookies waiting when they arrive home, as well…thus, scent helps lift their spirits and relax them after a long day.) Furthermore, we listen to the “Home Alone,” soundtrack in the care on the way to school…another soothing, yet heartwarming selection of music.
Here’s a list of music I use in the mornings before school…it’s a progression toward Christmas…then a positive “we can make it through winter” type series…and then a “spring is here” type series…ending with a “school is almost out” wrap up.
September-“Autumn in New England” or “A Charlie Brown Christmas” float softly through the house as Trent wakes up, eats breakfast and gets ready for school. The soundtrack to “Home Alone” keeps us calm and happy in the car on the way to school-helps to settle nerves and remind him that home is just 6 or 7 hours away.
October-“Christmas Treasures” begins our morning. “Christmas in the King’s Court” soothes us on the way to school.
November-“The Glory of Christmas” starts the day with Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song,” “A 1940s Christmas,” or “A Merry Christmas with Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters” playing in the care on the way to school.
December-Any variety of Christmas music from, “Christmas with Conniff,” to the soundtrack to “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” greet us at breakfast and in the car.
January-The soundtrack to “Nicholas Nickleby” is usually my January wake up music. In the car on the way to school we listen to the soundtrack to the movie “French Kiss.” I also use the soundtrack to “Sabrina” at dinner time starting in January.
February-The Soundtrack to “Emma” gives a light, hopeful, “Spring is just around the corner,” feel to our morning, and the soundtrack to “Anne of Green Gables” soothes us in the car.
March-The Soundtrack to “Chocolate” perks us up and gets us going. “Chocolate” usually continues with us all the way to school.
April-I usually rotate between “Emma,” “Chocolat,” or anything by Brian Crain, in April. In the care I start playing 80s tunes on the way home from school-they’re are perky and fun and remind us that summer is almost here!
May-Again Brian Crain in the morning and 80s tunes in the afternoon! (80s tunes like “Ain’t Nothin’ Gonna Break My Stride” and “Big Country”…the perky, happy stuff…)
June -This is where I struggle. My “Christmas Spirit” has kicked in full gear…but I try to hold off…stick with Brian Crain80s tunes on a mellow day… on a bright “we’ve got to get going” day!
July-”Same as June”
August-I’m easily back to “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in the morning!
Now, of course there are tons of collections I play throughout the year…these are just the ones I tend toward! What do you use to fill your home with a sense of warmth, cozy security?
As a final note…the same thing works for me at night! When my kids were little, I found that Kenny Loggins, “Return to Pooh Corner,” was the absolute BEST at settling my small children before bed! I love it!
Do let me know what you incorporate in your home! I’m always looking for new music!
- Music
- Comments(3)
One of my all time favorite Christmas CDs is Amy Grant, Home For Christmas. It has some BEAUTIFUL music on it! The music that I find I listen to the most is a cd I got from a friend of mine in my ward. She is the most amazingly talented songwriter and piano player. She can play anything by ear and exceptionally well! She put together a cd last fall of some of her songs and some Christmas songs and hymns and it is BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I listen to it in my car year round, even though it is mostly Christmas music! It is super good!
I still love Enchanted Christmas, year round. I love it for dinner times, or Sundays! There is an older collection of Instrumental/Synth Christmas music by Narada Media that is great- have a couple of those. I, too, love Anne, French Kiss, Sabrina, Pride and Prejudice, Emma soundtracks. What Women Want and Something’s Gotta Give both have some fun, light selections that make them good as well. Return to Pooh Corner is great, too! Good selections, Marcia!
Oh, on a slightly different vein, but still really good, my kids and I have been listening to a lot of Stevie wonder and James Taylor lately- “you’ve got a friend”, “Signed, sealed, delivered”… great stuff- Really makes things at home light-hearted when we are rushing around in the evening when I’m home from work and trying to catch up with everyone.