I want to share something with all of you. I spent the entire weekend depressed and fearful. Jews - at least most Jews - take any sign of Nazism seriously, so when I saw images of people in DC wearing "Camp Auschwitz" and "6MWE" shirts as they stormed the capitol, I was angry and scared. I had dreams of running away from people who were trying to kill me.
Bear with me - my point is not political. It's about Kindermusik.
By the time I was about to teach class today, I was thinking, "How will I ever be able to teach this class and give the children and parents the love, hope, and at least temporary sense of peace that Kindermusik is supposed to provide when I am feeling so scared and angry and sad inside?" I took a hot shower and a deep breath, and I have to tell you, that class was just about as magical as any I've ever taught. It was just a teeny tiny bit of how I wish our entire world would be: focused on bringing joy, doing what's best for both parents and children, and living life in light and laughter, using music and dance to express the best of what's within us.
Only my fellow Kindermusik educators could possibly understand the feeling you get when your whole world is falling apart, and you step into a Kindermusik classroom, even if it's an online classroom, and you've got children who are mesmerized and running around and showing you their toys and doing everything that children do. One of the most touching moments in class was when one of my little students, who has been with me for years, kept saying, "Dock! Hickory Dock!" He was asking for "Hickory Dickory Dock", the book we had read at his first class when he was six months old. He is now two. He remembered it! In Kindermusik programs all over the world, our motto is "Follow the child," so of course I started our class off with "Hickory Dickory Dock", even though that book has little to do with the unit we were really on (Rain or Shine). My little student beamed through the whole story, and the other children enjoyed it as well.
My point is, whether you are a Kindermusik teacher, parent, or student, and whether you're rolling in dough or living on food stamps and prayer, we all deserve to sit up a little straighter and feel the pride of knowing that we, as part of the Kindermusik community, are able to provide something very special to our families in a world that is filled with suffering.
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