First 5 Humboldt sponsored online music classes for much of the first year of Covid. In July 2021, we had an outdoor music session with 135 adults and young children gathered at the Arcata Ball Park. It was the first outdoor face-to-face event in many months. Some mothers and at least one father were weeping a little as we started. It startled me at first, but they really were not sad, wet eyes. It had happened at our Music Together outdoor classes as well; the emotion of being stuck at home with a young child or children all day long with limited outdoor experiences was just being released. We are such social animals; we need one another.
A playgroup parent said she can never get her vivacious son to settle down for more than a minute, but was amazed how he cuddled up with her during our lullaby, a part of every music session. Lullabies are always a tender moment for some kids and their caregivers & parents. Not all kids will settle down, which is fine. The parent sometimes lies down, and the child will cover the parent up. We use a lot of Beanie Babies that get pulled out for the children to play with. Young children use our dance scarves to cover the little animals up. Even the most boisterous of children become tender during the lullabies, tending their “babies.”
Submitted by Jose Quezada of Music Together