The Calming Powers of Singing and Reading
By: Amy Curtis, M.Ed | Mom & Duneland Early Learning HUB Co-Coordinator
At 14 months, there’s one word that constantly describes my daughter CC’s day according to her teachers, and that word is busy.
If you’d ask her dad and I, we’d be in agreement that CC’s busyness doesn’t end at school. It has a special way of carrying itself all the way through the night and straight up until the moment she lays her head in her crib and gives her feet some final happy kicks at bedtime.
But until that time of the night, CC can be found repeatedly toddling around the kitchen island while I crawl after her and tease, “you better hurry up because I’m going to get you!” We like the way this makes her quicken her little steps while she lets out joyful squeals. Or she can be seen repeatedly opening the one kitchen cabinet she knows is filled with pots and pans and spice containers because to CC’s delight, it’s the one cabinet her dad and I still haven’t gotten around to locking. Or if you’re listening closely enough, she can be heard sneakily exercising her newfound walking independence and master imitator skills by proudly putting things in the trash…yes, even things that aren’t supposed to be in the trash, like her animal fridge magnets and her beloved Little People toys.
Luckily for us though, there are a few things that can stop CC in her tracks, and those things are singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and reading Llama Llama Red Pajama.
Twinkle Twinkle is our go-to when our busy little girl needs a pick-me-up. As soon as soon as she hears the beat, she begins to bounce and sway along as she intently watches our mouths sing her beloved song. Once we’re done singing, it’s her turn, and her dad and I pause in silence while she gets her time to twinkle and shine. Although CC’s words are nonsensical to most, she sings with a certain sweet gentleness that only a toddler can, and we just know we can hear her words following the same beat as the Twinkle Twinkle we sing to her. CC’s dad even recently learned how to play nursery rhymes on the kalimba to make her favorite songs extra special for us!
Llama Llama is CC’s go-to when she’s looking for a moment to slow down and cuddle up on one of our laps. Her asking us to read always follows much of the same pattern— she quietly stands in front of her bookshelf, and no matter where Llama Llama is located on the shelf, she can always find it. Once she has her eyes on it, she begins frantically knocking the books from the shelf so she can secure her chubby hands on the Llama Llama book she so desperately needs. Next, we see her urgently toddle straight to her favorite reading chair while holding her prized Llama Llama book high in the air. Then, she adorably signs “please” over and over again until she’s convinced her dad or I to read, which isn’t hard to do! As she listens you can see her eyes scan the pages following along with Baby Llama’s antics, and she’s always eager to help turn the pages. I’m secretly and excitedly awaiting the day when we have Llama Llama memorized by heart because we’ve read it a million times to the little girl we love the most.
It’s these calm moments of connection with and development for CC that give us energy to make it through the busy ones. When I know we’re counting down the seconds until bedtime, it’s the reading and singing that refreshes us for another eventful day in CC’s world.