The Happy Morning Musical

Cute little Jayden loves his cuddle time when I curl him up in my arms and feed him his bottle or sippy cup, but he absolutely refuses to hold his own bottle.   Anytime I try to make him feed himself and place the bottle in his own hands, he arches his back, screams, takes the bottle and literally chucks it across the room!  I silently laugh at the explosion of anger from such a small baby.  How dare I make him hold his own bottle during his cuddle time... or any time for that matter?

Last night, I was talking to Tyson about how sad I was that I had not been singing enough to Jayden and Juliana since my voice had been hoarse for years.  Just recently, after a couple of surgeries over the last year, it had been slowly returning.  It still sounded scraggily, but at least I could croak out some sounds.

Both last night and this morning, I decided that I would attempt to use my voice.  Tyson is my child who has been unceasingly praying for me to be able to sing again; so this time, instead of scolding baby Jayden for his temper tantrum, lowering my eyebrows, and shaking my head in disapproval, I decided to instead calmly retrieve the bottle while I sang a sweet hymn to him.  BOTH times, his infant anger subsided!

It didn't happen all at once; it was a process both times...  I sang a few sweet hymns, and at first he stopped screaming; then he stopped arching his back.  Next he just stared at the bottle; and finally, very slowly, he grabbed his own bottle and placed it into his mouth!!

Tyson was sitting by my side both times.  After watching the power of music two days in a row, the look on Tyson's face was priceless!  He had observed Jayden screaming and fighting this simple duty for weeks, and now we both witnessed this small miracle of a peaceful hymn.  He was also pleased to hear his mother sing- even with a weak voice.

Well, I was feeling pretty confident about the power of music, so I tried it on the next child who displayed defiance!!

Shortly after, Juliana, my 2 yr. old, had her turn.  I had been cuddling Jayden, Juliana, and Mariah in my arms for a while, but then I needed to get up and get some things done.  The other two ran off to play; but Juliana, the queen of cuddling, did NOT want to be put down yet.  She screamed and cried the most devastating sounds.  I carried her in her room to get dressed, plopped her down, and began singing to her!!  With the biggest smile on my face, I sang over her cries:  "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!!"  (A crackly voice doesn't sound as bad on this song.)  She couldn't help herself.... she clapped her hands!!  She continued to clap her hands as she began dressing herself.

Honest to goodness... THIS is how she returned!!

I believe in the power and miracle of music!  I hadn't wanted to sing because my voice didn't sound as pretty as it used to.  They didn't care!!  The power was in the happy, peaceful heart...  Although my voice was crackly, scraggily, croaky, and weak they still knew it was happy music!!

Now lets see if my singing will have the same affect on my older children. :-)  My thoughts are that it will!  Who can resist a happy heart?

This picture is from last night's Family Home Evening...  not a staged picture!  Abe played the piano, and all the children rushed to his side to sing along... well the youngest two just wanted to bang on the piano. :-)  I thank God for the opportunity to have happy music as a blessing in our lives.