{Mama Moment} The Littlest Mouse

Parker Comes to Music Class

When I took over as Head Mouse of the early childhood music class, Church Mice, I was a music therapy intern in St. Louis and commuting to Springfield on the weekends. I was not married, and I was what seemed like a million years away from thinking about children of my own.

Fast forward 7 years: I’m still the Head Mouse, and there’s a new little mouse in the circle. MY BABY! I cannot fully explain how surreal it is to see Parker sitting amongst the rest of the kiddos, playing instruments and smiling and having fun.

Parker and Daddy at Music Class

What’s even more surreal is watching Zach (my husband) and Parker play together, just like the rest of the families in the group. When we started thinking about having a baby, and even moreso when I was pregnant, I tried to imagine this scenario — but the reality is so much sweeter than anything I envisioned! The fact that they are bonding through my music just makes my heart swell.

At one point, Zach sat Parker right next to me. He had the biggest grin on his face, watching and listening as I sang. I couldn’t help but grin right back at him. I try not to play favorites in any of my groups or classes, but it’s a little hard not to in this case ;)

Mama and baby mouse at music class

Church Mice has always been one of the highlights of my week, but having my family there brings a whole new level of enjoyment. I know there will come a time (hopefully in the distant, distant future) when Parker is embarrassed by my singing and playing, so until then I am going to soak up these moments, being his musical idol.

The Wheels on the Bus

The Wheels on the Bus

I’m always on the hunt for books I can sing with my students, and my collection of singable stories has grown exponentially since Parker was born. While I love to write my own melodies for books that don’t already have one, I like having plenty of “ready-to-sing” classics on hand.

This month while I was combing Amazon for a few new additions, I came across this super fun version of The Wheels on the Bus — it doesn’t get more classic than that! Each page includes illustrations that come to life when you pull the tabs, which makes the book even more interactive.

I put together a recording of this version, which doesn’t stray too far from the song we all learned back in preschool or earlier. It’s yours to download for free; just enter $0 when asked to name your price :)


I have another singable story to share with you soon thanks to my mom, who picked it up as a Christmas gift for Parker. In the meantime, here are some more of my very favorites for your browsing pleasure. Feel free to share your own must-haves!

Down By the Beach

“Down By the Bay” was one of the first songs I was required to memorize during my internship, and I used it ALL THE TIME in sessions to work on all kinds of goals: rhyming, fill-in songwriting, echoing, and other language skills. It’s a go-to song because it’s versatile, fun to sing, and can be adapted for a variety of age groups.

So as I was putting together a beach-themed music therapy session recently, this song came to mind as an excellent piggybacking opportunity.

I’m always a little nervous that my students will only sing the original lyrics, but luckily that hasn’t been the case with this one! We’ve been having fun singing about all things beachy in the middle of fall :)

Tapping, Shaking, Music Making!

There’s a little over a month remaining in the school year, and if you’re anything like me, it’s right about this time that your repertoire needs a boost. Whether you work as a music therapist in the classroom or one-on-one setting or you are a music educator, my newest creation might be just the boost you need.

Tapping, Shaking, Music Making! is a digitally downloaded songbook containing 12 Listen & Learn songs for playing instruments — including rhythm sticks, shakers, bells, drums, castanets, cabasa, ukulele, and more. Not only does the PDF songbook provide the notated melody line, chords and lyrics, but you also receive full and instrumental mp3s for all 12 songs:

“Animal Rock”
“Click Clack”
“I Can Do It By Myself”
“The Lollipop Bop”
“Play the Cabasa”
“Rhythm Sticks Waltz”
“Ring to the Music”
“The Shakin’ Song”
“Shaky Fruit”
“Tap Your Rhythm Sticks”
“The Ukulele Song”
“You Can Strum Too”

Purchasing the lead sheet and mp3s for each individual song would cost you $3 a pop; multiply that by 12 songs and you’re out $36. But since I’m all about sharing the love, I’ve priced Tapping, Shaking, Music Making! at a mere $12.

Get it now and instantly increase your arsenal of songs.

Music, Movement, Fun!

Every so often, I invite my favorite amateur photographer (aka my husband Zach) to join one of my early childhood music classes, where he captures some great action shots for the families to have as keepsakes from the class.

The kiddos were as animated as usual last Sunday when Zach visited, and the photos turned out so well that I put together this little video slideshow.

That was the final class of my winter session, and I’m already bummed that it’s over…but thrilled that I only have to wait a couple more weeks for the next one to begin! My new class, Listen & Learn for Little Ones, is open for registration now and will start on March 5 & 6 (two concurrent sessions).

If you live in the Springfield area and are looking for a fun, enriching activity for your child (ages 0-3), I hope you’ll consider joining me. Check it out and register here!